Life Esidimeni judgment a bold statement in favour of accountability - Section27
This comes after the Pretoria High Court found that the deaths of nine mental health patients were negligently caused by the conduct of former health MEC Qedani Mahlangu, and the former head of the Mental Health Directorate, Makgabo Manamela.
FILE: Life Esidimeni Waverley Care Centre Hospital in Boksburg. Picture: Kgothatso Mogale/Eyewitness News
JOHANNESBURG - Advocacy group Section 27 has described the judgement in the Life Esidimeni inquest as a bold statement in favour of accountability.
This comes after the Pretoria High Court found that the deaths of nine mental health patients were negligently caused by the conduct of former health MEC Qedani Mahlangu, and the former head of the Mental Health Directorate, Makgabo Manamela.
In 2016, chronic mental health patients were moved to ill-equipped non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and State institutions in Gauteng after the provincial Health Department terminated its long-standing contract with the private Life Esidimeni Hospital.
A total of 144 patients died in the botched marathon project.
READ: Life Esidimeni judgment a wake-up call for politicians, says former Health Ombud Makgoba
The CEO of Section 27, Sasha Stevenson, welcomed the judgement.
“For the families of mental healthcare patients who died after being transferred from Life Esidimeni, and indeed for the many people who have watched as the different legal processes relating to this case have unfolded over the past nine years. It has been a long wait for justice and this outcome is an end in itself and a vital step on the path towards criminal accountability.”