Wrong: Manamela. Picture: supplied
An inquest found that the actions of former Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu and former head of Gauteng mental health Dr Makgabo Manamela, caused the deaths of the 144 mental health patients in the Life Esidimeni tragedy.
Judge Mmonoa Teffo chaired the inquest and released the judgment on Wednesday in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.
The purpose of the inquest was for the court to determine who should be held accountable for the deaths of 141 mentally ill patients who died after they were transferred from Life Esidimeni facilities in 2015 and 2016 to ill-equipped Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).
The move was implemented as a cost-cutting measure, and patients were sent to ill-equipped facilities after officials failed to conduct due diligence, leading to most of them dying from hunger and hypothermia.
In her judgment, Teffo said that evidence presented showed that Mahlangu and Dr Manamela should be held responsible for the negligence which led to the deaths of the patients.
Former Gauteng Premier David Makhura told the inquest that that when he inquired about the number of patients who had died, he was told that deaths of mental health patients at their facilities were not unusual and considered normal.
Makhura said when he first heard that patients were dying, he arranged a meeting MEC Mahlangu.
He said during the meeting, Mahlangu and her team made a presentation where they compared the number of deaths which had occurred in the past and what was currently happening and said it was a normal trend.
However, during her evidence at the inquest, Mahlangu threw Makhura under the bus, and blamed him for the transfer of mental health patients from Life Esidimeni to bogus care centres.
“The ultimate decision to transfer the mental health patients was taken by the premier,” Mahlangu said at the time.
sinenhlanhla.masilela@iol.co.za