Former Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu told the Life Esidimeni inquest that she was not told by department officials about the risks of transferring the patients to the NGOs and that her PA handled most of her correspondence.
She also said that it was no secret “that I am not in the medical profession, I’ve never professed to be one…I am a political head”, and that she was not told by department officials about the risks of transferring the patients to the NGOs.
“When I get a question about an issue outside my expertise, I had to rely on people who were knowledgeable, trained and implementers,” she said, adding that she had believed that the NGOs which would accommodate patients moved from Life Esidimeni would provide good quality services.
Appearing before the Life Esidimeni inquest in the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) earlier this week, Mahlangu was cross-examined by public interest law centre SECTION27’s Advocate Hassim Adila, reports The Citizen.
The hearing will determine whether anyone can be held criminally liable for the deaths of 144 mental health patients who died after being transferred from Life Esidimeni to other NGOs in 2016.
Mahlangu announced the termination of the Life Esidimeni contract in October 2015, and was questioned about emails she received – before and after ending the contract – which she admitted she had not read.
Part of an email from Professor Lesley Robertson, dated 23 June 2015, and addressed to her and copied to other officials, read: “We are worried that the reduction of beds (20% reduction) at Life Esidimeni will have unintended costly negative consequences.”
Mahlangu said the letter would have been “addressed to me but via (former Gauteng director of mental health) Dr Makgabo Manamela, so I’m not sure which of these were sent to me directly and which were sent to Dr Manamela requesting a meeting”.
“I do not remember reading it. Correspondence coming to my office would be directed by my PA to the relevant people so that they could come back to me with information of how we respond to those cases.
“Personally, I didn’t reply because my PA would have sent the letter when it arrived to the HoD, who was also copied in the letter.”
‘I’m not sure’
When asked if she followed up with the officials on their response, Mahlangu was “not sure”.
“I’m not sure whether I saw the letter or not. I was never in the office all the time… I would be in meetings and keeping my political responsibilities.”
Another email from Robertson, dated 30 October 2015, and addressed to the MEC and others, was also brought up.
The email referred to the letter of June 2015, saying things were worse because of the announcement of the termination of the Life Esidimeni contract.
“We’re deeply concerned that community mental health services have not sufficiently developed. We request a meeting with the MEC to discuss this matter further,” it reads.
Mahlangu referred the letter “to the necessary heads”, and did not remember meeting the South African Society of Psychiatrists, which had requested the meeting.
However, she conceded that the patients’ removals “could have been handled better”, when grilled earlier in the inquest by state advocate Willem Pienaar on her role in the seemingly rushed process of moving about 2 000 mental health patients to NGOs around the province between March and August 2016.
SECTION27 said the process was completely haphazard, with patients being loaded on to the backs of trucks, confidential patient records being lost and chaos characterising the process.
While she agreed the transfer could have been handled better, Mahlangu had no comment on whether she had violated the rights of the mental health patients, reports TimesLIVE.
Regarding the minutes of a meeting in November 2015 where a three-month extension of a contract with Life Esidimeni was discussed and agreed on, she agreed with Pienaar that the removal process had affected the patients directly but did not believe it had been rushed. She said she had thought the department could finish the work on time, during the three-month extension.
She said she had full confidence in the team to handle the patients’ relocation safely, but claimed to be unaware that fraudulent licences had been issued to the NGOs, reports News24.
She had no reason to suspect some were fake, because Manamela, who was in charge of the patients’ relocation, “was experienced”.
“Dr Manamela and her team had been doing this work for a long time. I had no reason or doubt to believe they would not do what is right for the patients.”
She said she had met the team responsible for the Life Esidimeni project “whenever I was available”, but that meeting them regularly was impossible due to her “demanding portfolio”.
The inquest continues.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Life Esidimeni inquest: MEC dodges blame for ending contracts
State still paying ex-MEC’s legal fees in Life Esidimeni case
Life Esidimeni inquest postponed as MEC’s lawyers unpaid