Legislation intended to improve the government’s capacity to identify disease outbreaks and health emergencies is due to go before the Cabinet, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi told Parliament as he closed a debate on the recent deaths of at least 100 state psychiatric patients, according to Business Day.
The patients died after they were transferred by the Gauteng Health Department from Life Esidimeni facilities to unlicensed, ill-equipped non-governmental organisations in an apparent bid to save money.
Motsoaledi was responding to criticism from DA health spokesperson Wilmot James, who questioned why it was taking so long for the department to set up the National Public Health Institute of SA (Naphisa), which, he said, could have stopped the Esidimeni tragedy in its tracks.
The report says Naphisa is modelled on the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and is intended to co-ordinate disease and injury surveillance and research. Enabling legislation is contained in the Naphisa Bill, which was published for comment in December 2015.
"Our country needs a responsible and alert health leadership across all spheres of government, resting on a real-time surveillance system. As soon as there is a death it must show up," James said. He said this required the establishment of Naphisa. The government had failed to recognise the danger facing the Esidimeni patients before it was too late, he said.
Motsoaledi said the Naphisa Bill had been discussed by the Cabinet committee and was due to go to the Cabinet for approval next week.
According to the report, he said an inquest would be held for each of the psychiatric patients who had died. Authorities were also investigating whether the patients had been legally discharged or "stolen".
Motsoaledi has promised that nothing will be swept under the carpet regarding the Esidimeni deaths, and that every death will be accounted for, reports News24. Motsoaledi told MPs that no question would go unanswered regarding the tragedy.
ANC MP Amos Mahlalela said, however, that there was no need for a judicial inquiry, as had been suggested by the DA. "We are, therefore, convinced that the report of the ombudsman is comprehensive enough and covers all aspects and therefore don’t see any necessity for the appointment of a judicial inquiry to conduct further investigation," he said. He said the health ombudsman was independent and impartial and had performed his work in good faith. Anyone who was aggrieved with the process could lodge a written appeal with the health minister, Mahlalela said.
Meanwhile, the report said, James called for the minister to use the power he had of legally withholding conditional grants more effectively to exact compliance of provinces in honouring the national health laws, as long as they did not compromise access to health. "He pussyfoots too much around ANC intra-party sensitivities in the provinces," James said.
Congress of the People MP Willie Madisha said the entire system had failed the families of the dead patients. "I want to say to the families and victims, you deserve more than an apology – and not just an apology – but action." He said that even the Human Rights Commission was complicit in the tragedy, which was "neither an accident or a natural catastrophe".
Agang MP Andries Plouamma said Gauteng Premier David Makhura had practically killed the patients off before they were even dead. "We are all humiliated by this act of barbarism. It was embarrassing and shameful when the premier donned a sack of cloth and flagellated himself like the Pharisees," he said. Gauteng was not in good hands, Plouamma said. "Even Adolf Hitler would have patted the premier on his back."
Families of patients who died and were maltreated by inadequate NGOs after being removed from Life Esidimeni facilities say they are wary of delays in implementing the Health Ombudsman's recommendations on future care‚ and concerned about lawyers hounding them with a view to future cash settlements, reports The Times.
"We have suffered enough‚ and we will not have people settling political scores in the names of those who died due to gross‚ inhumane negligence. It pains us every time this occurs‚" the Life Esidimeni Family Committee said in a statement issued by Section 27.
"We have already gone through so much. We have had to go through the experience of finding our loved ones long after they died cruel deaths. We have had to go through the experience of seeing how they had wasted away due to the shameless neglect of the Gauteng Department of Health‚ and then had to experience the trauma of identifying their emaciated bodies in so-called mortuaries. And throughout this‚ we have had to deal with the frustration of an incompetent and uncaring provincial health department. We have suffered enough‚ without having to watch self-serving politicians trying to make a name for themselves through our pain."
According to the report, the families said: "It is appropriate for the nation to focus on the state of mental health care services and the loss and suffering of our loved ones. It is essential that there is a proper investigation into what happened‚ who was responsible‚ and who must be held accountable. Most of it all‚ it is crucial that there is restorative justice‚ and a sense of closure for us as families. But we wish to make it very clear that‚ in the process‚ the lives of our loved ones should not be used as a political football by any of the parties represented in Parliament."
The families said that regardless of the Parliamentary debate‚ they wanted urgent attention be paid to the recommendations made by the Ombud. "They cannot wait for the National Assembly to finish its work‚ and Parliament must not in any way delay the implementation of the report. The reality is that many families have not yet found their loved ones‚ and many of our loved ones remain in danger. Many bereaved family members still do not know how their loved ones died‚ when‚ where or how. We are anxious to go through the process laid out in the Ombud’s recommendations and we hope that this will be a speedy process.”
Tackling the lawyers keen to represent them in potential lawsuits against the government‚ the report said the families said they should back off. "We are also highly concerned that lawyers continue to approach us even after we advise them we are represented and do not want their services. Many of us have worked with Section 27 since 2015. We encourage other bereaved families who want advice or representation to reach out to the Family Committee…"
The families affected by the Life Esidimeni tragedy called on lawyers "to live up to the ethical and legal requirements of their profession and to refrain from the callous practice of hounding families. As families‚ we stand together to say to political parties and opportunistic lawyers: let us grieve. We say to political parties and government: let us advise and guide your action. Let us ensure accountability. The lost lives of our loved ones are not tools to be used or points to be scored. We deserve a dignified ending to this nightmare."
After being given an update on the implementation of the recommendations made by the Health Ombudsman regarding the Esidimeni tragedy, new Gauteng Health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa has reminded her department's officials, healthcare workers and even those working in the private sector that the health system does not belong to them but to the public who use it.
Ramokgopa is quoted in an Eyewitness News report as saying she will be working tirelessly to ensure that South Africans' confidence in the public healthcare system is restored. She says she will never be able to accept that so many people lost their lives because no one wanted to listen to families who pleaded for the move not to happen.
“The voices of families and communities were muffled. Having participated in the healing session, many family members shared their experiences with us.”
Ramokgopa says so far, about 500 mentally-ill patients have been moved from the unlawful non-governmental organisations and the remaining 800 patients will be moved gradually from the end of next week.
Ramokgopa says all owners of NGOs that unlawfully housed Esidimeni patients will face appropriate legal action, reports Eyewitness News. Ramokgopa says five of these NGOs have officially been shut down.
According to the report, Ramokgopa says she intends on implementing Makgoba’s recommendations on what should happen to the owners of the unlawful NGOs. “We recommend that appropriate legal proceedings should be instituted or administrative action taken. And if we accept the recommendations, that has to be done.”
[link url="http://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/health/2017-02-24-health-emergencies-bill-fast-tracked-after-patients-deaths/"]Business Day report[/link]
[link url="http://pmg-assets.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/151112Healthdraft.pdf"]Draft Bill[/link]
[link url="http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/every-esidimeni-death-will-be-accounted-for-motsoaledi-20170223"]News24 report[/link]
[link url="http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2017/02/23/Families-of-ex-Esidimeni-patients-tell-opportunistic-lawyers-and-politicians-where-to-get-off"]The Times report[/link]
[link url="http://ewn.co.za/2017/02/23/the-public-health-system-belong-to-the-public"]Eyewitness News report[/link]
[link url="http://ewn.co.za/2017/02/22/ramokgopa-unlawful-ngos-that-housed-life-esidimeni-patients-will-face-the-law"]Eyewitness News report[/link]