Public interest law centre, Section27, the SA Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) and the Life Esidimeni families’ committee held a media briefing on Thursday to announce that on Monday, 19 July, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) would launch an inquest into the Life Esidimeni tragedy that led to the deaths of 144 mentally ill patients in 2016.

Speaking at the briefing on behalf of the Life Esidimeni families’ committee, Christine Nxumalo began by reading out each of the 144 names of those who died through negligence, allegedly on the part of the Gauteng Department of Health.

Sharing her thoughts on the upcoming inquest, Nxumalo said: “I suppose it’s all part of closure… there have been 144 deaths — to not have anybody accountable, it would be nothing more than getting away with murder.”

She said the process continues to be emotionally draining because the families do not feel they have been given closure on the ordeal their loved ones had to go through in the mental healthcare system. Nxumalo said without the help of partners like Sadag, Section27 and the media, she does not think the matter would have come this far.

Regarding a fitting memorial to honour their departed loved ones, Nxumalo said she’d like to see a hospital dedicated to the needs of mental health patients so that no one else would suffer a similar fate in future.

Umunyana Rugege, executive director of Section27, said that the moment they became aware of what was happening at Life Esidimeni, they flagged the dire situation with the health department and Gauteng health MEC Qedani Mahlangu specifically — to no avail.

Rugege said that prior to Section27’s intervention, the families had been trying to warn health department officials about the unfolding tragedy, but were ignored until the Health Ombudsman’s report led to the initiation of an arbitration process to get to the bottom of the matter.

Rugege said Section27 would represent 44 families during the inquest and planned to introduce new information, including new post-mortem reports, in their representations. She stressed that the process was important because of the legal consequences — criminal charges have been laid against health officials.

Harriet Perlman, who created the Life Esidimeni website, explained that the site was meant to be an “ongoing memorial and advocacy effort for the families”. It also houses information pertaining to the NGOs that helped the families fight to attain justice for their loved ones.

Perlman said she felt it important to keep the story of the Life Esidimeni tragedy alive, stressing that the people who died were not just numbers, but mothers, sisters, brothers and fathers. She said the site tells the story of those who died and those who remain, and can be used as an advocacy tool in the mental health system.

“One mustn’t forget how cruelly people died,” Perlman said, reminding everyone at the briefing how families were lied to and dismissed by health officials when seeking answers and assistance. 

In March 2018, retired deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke awarded the Life Esidimeni families represented at the arbitration R1.2-million each as compensation for the deaths of their loved ones.

“This is a harrowing account of the death, torture and disappearance of utterly vulnerable mental healthcare users in the care of an admittedly delinquent provincial government,” said Moseneke at the time.
DM/MC