Life Esidimeni catastrophe: NPA yet to decide whether to prosecute Mahlangu for culpable homicide
In a landmark judgement, the Pretoria High Court ruled that former Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu and former Director of Mental Health Makgabo Manamela should be held accountable for at least nine of the 144 deaths.
FILE: Former Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu. Picture: Sethembiso Zulu/Eyewitness News
JOHANNESBURG - The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is yet to decide whether it will prosecute former Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu for culpable homicide after she was found to have caused the deaths of some of the Life Esidimeni victims.
The Pretoria High Court handed down a landmark judgement in the Life Esidimeni inquest on Wednesday – almost a decade after 144 mental health patients died in Gauteng.
The court has now ruled that Mahlangu and the former Director of Mental Health Makgabo Manamela should be held accountable for at least nine of the deaths.
ALSO READ: Court finds deaths of 9 Life Esidimeni patients caused by negligence of Mahlangu & Manamela
Judge Mmonoa Teffo said had it not been for Mahlangu’s decision to terminate the Life Esidimeni contract despite warnings from lobby groups and experts, some lives may have been spared.
She said Manamela’s decision to blindly implement the marathon project and a failure to intervene added to the crisis.
“She could have saved many lives, as she visited the NGOs, and she could see they were not adequately equipped and some of the personnel were not adequately qualified to care for the mental health users.”
Though there are 144 known deaths, the court could only link nine, with absolute certainty, to the conduct of Mahlangu and Manamela.
The ball is now in the NPA’s court to decide if it has enough evidence to prosecute the pair.
Meanwhile, some political parties have added to growing calls for Mahlangu to be charged with culpable homicide for the Life Esidimeni tragedy.
The Democratic Alliance’s Jack Bloom - who lifted the lid on the tragedy – said the judgment was a justification to criminalise undue political interference in government.
“I think that criminal charges of culpable homicide now definitely need to be laid, and it should be done as soon as possible because we need to see justice done, particularly for the families of those who died.”
‘WE DON’T NEED THEIR APOLOGIES NOW’: RELATIVE OF LIFE ESIDIMENI VICTIM
Some of the families of the victims in the Life Esidimeni tragedy believe the wheels of justice are turning following the highly anticipated judgement into the inquest.
Christine Nxumalo – whose sister died in August 2016 – said despite a positive outcome, the fight for justice was far from over.
“For them to apologise now would be because they were found guilty. We don’t need their apologies now. All what they need to do is go and stand in the dock and tell the judge why they did what they did and why didn’t they listen to the families.
“The only thing that this process can help is with is change the way that officials deal with the public, especially the vulnerable,” she said.