The long-awaited judgment in the Life Esidimeni inquest will be delivered on 10 July, when the Gauteng High Court will rule who should be held criminally liable and charged with culpable homicide for the deaths of 141 mental health patients.
Eight years later, and after the start of the inquest on 18 July 2021, Judge Mmonoa Teffo will recommend to the National Prosecuting Authority whether any officials are to blame for the 2015 and 2016 deaths of the patients – from neglect and starvation – after being moved to inappropriate facilities from Life Esidemeni.
The Star reports that at the inquest, SECTION27 had argued that former Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu, former director of the Mental Health Directorate Dr Makgabo Manamela, and the owner of Precious Angels NGO, should all be charged with culpable homicide for their involvement.
SECTION27 represented 44 of the patients who had died in conditions of extreme neglect, many of them emaciated, dehydrated and with chronic bed sores.
In its closing arguments last year (based on the evidence already before the court) it had argued that least 10 patients’ deaths were caused by the conduct of Mahlangu, Manamela and Precious Angels owner Ethel Ncube.
Arguments included that Mahlangu made the initial decision to terminate the Life Esidimeni contract, and then continued to make reckless decisions about the project for months, while chairing project team meetings.
SECTION27 said this included putting pressure on Gauteng Department of Health officials to implement the termination (of the) project over an extremely short period of time and that she had signed licences for NGOs she knew had not been properly assessed.
“She was warned both before and during the project about risks, yet failed to mitigate these,” SECTION27 said.
Ncube, as owner of Precious Angels, should also be held accountable, the court was told, because 20 of the patients had died there, the first in less than two weeks after being moved into her care.
Mahlangu said she did not make the decision to terminate the contract with Life Esidimeni and was not involved in the implementation and execution of the termination project.
Manamela also maintained her innocence, saying she had not made the decision to terminate the contract with Life Esidimeni, while Ncube’s argument was that she was not personally responsible for the physical care of the patients; and that the circumstances at Precious Angels leading to the deaths were brought about by officials in the department.
The Star PressReader article – Life Esidimeni judgment set for July 10 (Open access)
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Life Esidimeni inquest concludes
SECTION27 seeks culpable homicide charges against Life Esidimeni trio
Life Esidimeni: Premier told 40 patients dying every year was ‘normal’