Jaco Stols, one of the 144 victims of the Life Esidimeni tragedy, vomited continuously for four weeks before dying of hunger and thirst, said his sister Sandra de Villiers on Monday (28 February), testifying at the formal inquest.
The suffering of Stols (51), an intellectually-disabled man with the brain capacity of a nine-year-old child, during the last few weeks of his life, was heard in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.
In her testimony, De Villiers said he had inexplicable marks on his body and there were reports he was crying himself to sleep every night without his caretakers reporting this to his family, reported AfriForum on Politicsweb.
AfriForumʼs Private Prosecution Unit and Solidarity Helping Hand are representing De Villiers in the inquest, with Advocate Phyllis Vorster, prosecutor at the Private Prosecution Unit, appointed as a watching brief to assist De Villiers, who was the 14th witness called to testify.
She became emotional describing how her brother had wasted away after his transfer from the Cullinan Care and Rehabilitation Centre (CCRC) to the new Siyabadinga Centre in Cullinan on 9 May 2016 as part of the Life Esidimeni money-saving scheme. She said he was always hungry and thirsty when she visited.
The court heard that Siyabadinga had closed down on 8 July 2016 because it was being operated without the necessary permits. Stols was then transferred back to CCRC on 19 July 2016.
De Villiers said thereafter, her brother constantly had marks on his body and had said “they” were hurting him. He also cried a lot. De Villiers reported these incidents to the authority structures hoping something would be done about it.
On 19 September 2016 when she visited him, “He was crying so much and again said they were hurting him. He looked ill so I took him to a private doctor,” she testified.
Dr Deon Lombaard (who will also be testifying) found that Stols was probably being abused and was suffered from dehydration and malnutrition. He prescribed medication and instructed CCRC to admit Stols to hospital if his condition did not improve.
De Villiers admitted Stols to Mamelodi Hospital on 26 September 2016 when he weighed just 39kg. However, he was only treated with an intravenous drip and sent back to the centre, where his condition deteriorated further.
On 3 October 2016, CCRC readmitted Stols to Mamelodi Hospital, where his condition worsened, and he died on 14 October 2016.
“We want justice. My brotherʼs life was not important to them and they treated him like a dog. He was possibly also sexually abused,” De Villiers testified.
Politicsweb article – Life Esidimeni: Sister tells of man’s gruesome death – AfriForum (Open access)
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