Family members break down as Daniel Buda, an administration officer at Mamelodi Hospital Mortuary, testifies during the Life Esidimeni arbitration on 30 November 2017 in Johannesburg. (Photo: Gallo Images / The Times / Alaister Russell) 
The Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH), under the helm of former Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu, effectively signed the death certificates of 144 vulnerable mental healthcare patients when it decided as a cost-saving measure to terminate the contract with Life Esidimeni, a highly specialised, long-term psychiatric care hospital.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/AV_00071498.jpg "Former Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu testifies during the Life Esidemeni arbitration hearings in Johannesburg on 24 January 2018 probing the deaths of 144 mentally ill patients. (Photo: Gallo Images / Sowetan / Alon Skuy)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/AV_00070245.jpg "Dr Makgobo Manamela, who led the Life Esidimeni project, testifies in Johannesburg during the arbitration process on 23 November 2017. Manamela was evasive and unapologetic as she testified about the deaths of 144 psychiatric patients on her watch. (Photo: Gallo Images / The Times / Alaister Russell)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/AV_00069420.jpg "Ethel Ncube, who ran the Precious Angel NGO under which 23 mentally ill adults died, testifies during the Life Esidimeni arbitration hearing on 17 October 2017 in Johannesburg. Ncube admitted that she shouldn’t have taken 58 adults into her care. (Photo: Gallo Images / The Times / Simphiwe Nkwali)")
The move resulted in nearly 2,000 patients with mental health problems being moved to other psychiatric facilities and ill-equipped, unlicensed and sometimes overcrowded NGOs where they suffered under deplorable conditions, including abuse and starvation.
Eight years have since passed, but the memories of the lives lost to inhumane and unconstitutional negligence by GDoH live on in the fight for justice by the families of the Life Esidimeni victims. From the scathing Ombud’s report to the historic arbitration and, finally, the landmark inquiry, the families and civil society organisations like SECTION27 and the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) never gave up on the fight for justice.
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/MC-Life-Esidimeni-March-2023_1.jpg "Christine Nxumalo and her late sister Virginia Machpelah, a Life Esidimeni victim. (Photo: Mark Lewis)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/LE-Christine_1.jpg "Christine Nxumalo at Life Esidimeni in 2017. Her sister Virginia Macapelah was among those who lost their lives. (Photo: Joyrene Kramer)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/MC-LE-Wrap.jpg "Reverend Joseph Maboe and his late son, Life Esidimeni patient Hendrick ‘Billy’ Maboe. (Photo: Mark Lewis)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/ThammEsidimeni-option-3.jpg "Family members break down during testimony at the Life Esidimeni arbitration hearings on 22 January 2018 in Johannesburg. (Photo: Gallo Images / Alet Pretorius)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/MC-LE-Costs-MAIN.jpg "Protests during the testimony of former Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu at the Life Esidimeni arbitration hearings in Johannesburg on 22 January 2018. (Photo: Gallo Images / Sowetan / Thulani Mbele)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/LifeEsidimeni_13.jpg "Protesters at the Life Esidimeni hearings. (Photo: Joyrene Kramer)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/LifeEsidimeni_4.jpg "Former Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke at the Life Esidimeni hearings. (Photo: Joyrene Kramer)")
/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/MC-LE-Adila.jpg "Opening statement by Adila Hassim, Life Esidimeni inquest, 19 July 2021. (Photo: Joyrene Kramer)")
On Wednesday, 10 July 2024, the years-long journey for answers and justice will finally come to a head when Judge Mmonoa Teffo will hand down the judgment in the landmark Esidimeni Inquest initiated in 2021. Teffo will determine who’ll be held criminally liable for the 144 people who died at the hands of a system that was supposed to care for them. DM