An investigation into the June 2025 death of a long-term patient at Witrand Psychiatric Hospital in North West has been escalated to the NPA but is still unresolved, said the grieving family, which has accused the facility of failing to care for him, reports IOL.
Quinton du Plessis, whom doctors had predicted would not live to seven, died at 40 with severe and unexplained injuries – including from sexual assault – in June last year, and his devastated sister, Colette du Plessis, said the family wants answers.
In July last year, the North West Department of Health had subsequently announced that Health MEC Sello Lehari had appointed a nine-member investigation team to probe the death, led by clinician Professor John Tumbo. The findings were expected to be reported to the MEC within the next month.
The case has also drawn concern from Citizens Commission on Human Rights Africa (CCHR), with co-ordinator Maurithus Meiring saying the circumstances raised serious questions about the safety and oversight of vulnerable patients in institutional care, and that state-run psychiatric and long-term care facilities should be held to the highest standards of accountability.
“When severe neglect and abuse occur behind closed doors, it points to a systemic failure that goes beyond a single isolated incident – it exposes a culture of impunity and a lack of rigorous internal monitoring,” he added, calling for transparency and stronger oversight of these facilities.
The matter had moved to the prosecutorial process, with North West police spokesperson Anne Magakoe saying the case was under consideration by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
“It was subsequently referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions in Mahikeng for further consideration and a decision,” she said. A prosecutorial decision is still pending.
Not expected to reach his seventh year
His sister said Du Plessis had suffered injuries during birth and failed to reach developmental milestones. Brain scans later showed his skull was growing faster than his brain, she told IOL, and the family was warned he might not live to see his seventh birthday.
But he did, and could partially care for himself and perform small tasks. At 13, another brain scan showed his brain was comparable to that of a five- to seven-year-old.
After the death of their father, and then their mother, in 2014 she placed her brother in Witrand Psychiatric Hospital, believing it was best for him.
For the first few years he seemed content, having made friends with patients and staff, and mostly stayed in the protected unit ward. But from around 2020, she began noticing bruises whenever she visited him or took him home for visits.
He would cry when it was time to return. “He begged me not to take him back.” He said “the children” – meaning other patients – were hurting him.
The bruising continued: he frequently had marks on his head and was often sunburned. But staff warned her that changes in his brain meant she should not trust everything he said.
In May 2025, she tried repeatedly to speak to him by phone, but was given different explanations for why she could not reach him.
Eventually, a nurse said Du Plessis had a facial injury and had been taken to a care unit for it to be cleaned. When she called the unit, she said she could hear her brother crying in the background.
When she spoke to him, he asked her “to come and get him”: when she saw him, she was horrified. The wound on his face was swollen, raw and infected, with a yellow discharge. His nose and forehead were also badly bruised.
When she asked a doctor about the injuries, she was told he had allegedly thrown himself to the ground in a tantrum.
He was also in a wheelchair, and she described him as cold, skinny and pale. He was barefoot, shivering and wearing very little clothing. His nails were also extremely long.
She challenged a doctor about his nails, after being told he was scratching his wounds, but staff said there was no money for nail clippers.
Days before his death, she received a call telling her he had been found unresponsive and naked next to his bed on a cement floor, with dangerously low vital signs.
A doctor said he was receiving 100% oxygen. She was urged to go to the hospital. When she arrived, he was attached to drips and his hands were bandaged.
She lifted his blanket to feel his chest, and saw bruising on his ribs and the rest of his body.
“I started to take pictures,” she said. What she saw was shocking. “There were just too many injuries.”
She left the room briefly while he was being washed, and when she returned, she said, a crying nurse urged her to take more photographs.
She said the injuries appeared as though Quinton might have been struck with an object like a stick or broomstick.
Colette then asked whether a rape kit could be performed, and the results confirmed he had been violated.
A board meeting was called where she showed those present the photographs on her phone. She asked what would happen if her brother died.
When he did, she opened a case alleging rape, abuse and negligence against Witrand.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Probe into death of North West psychiatric patient
NW Health investigates concerns raised at Witrand Psychiatric Hospital
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