--- title: "Lest we forget – 144 lives stolen in Life Esidimeni tragedy live on through families’ Fight for Justice" description: "It may have been eight years since news of the Life Esidimeni tragedy first shook South Africa to its core. While the frequency of headlines telling tales of the horrific, tragic, avoidable deaths of 144 mental healthcare patients may have subsided, the fight for justice is far from over." type: "NewsArticle" publisher: "Daily Maverick" site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za" section: "PHOTO ESSAY" author: "Daily Maverick" author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/dailymaverick/" canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-07-09-lest-we-forget-144-lives-stolen-in-life-esidimeni-tragedy-live-on-through-families-fight-for-justice/" published: "2024-07-09T22:49:36" updated: "2024-07-09T22:49:38" lang: "en-ZA" word_count: 492 --- # Lest we forget – 144 lives stolen in Life Esidimeni tragedy live on through families’ Fight for Justice > It may have been eight years since news of the Life Esidimeni tragedy first shook South Africa to its core. While the frequency of headlines telling tales of the horrific, tragic, avoidable deaths of 144 mental healthcare patients may have subsided, the fight for justice is far from over. By Daily Maverick · Published 10 July 2024, 00:49 SAST · Updated 10 July 2024, 00:49 SAST ## Key points - Former Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu's cost-cutting decision to terminate the contract with Life Esidimeni led to the tragic deaths of 144 mental healthcare patients, with nearly 2,000 others enduring appalling conditions in ill-equipped facilities, sparking a prolonged battle for justice by the victims' families and civil society groups that culminates in Judge Mmonoa Teffo's upcoming judgment in the long-awaited Esidimeni Inquest. - Former Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu's decision to terminate Life Esidimeni contract led to deaths of 144 mental healthcare patients. - Patients moved to inadequate facilities, suffering abuse and starvation. - Families of victims continue fight for justice through Ombud's report, arbitration, and inquiry. - Landmark Esidimeni Inquest judgment to be delivered by Judge Mmonoa Teffo on 10 July 2024, determining criminal liability for the deaths. ## Content 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. ![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)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/7-R_B1lwC4axbR_EQzdtqi6-i8s=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/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)* ![Taku-LE-prosecution](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/EkQVuhiPAB0_kqvCclC2HUYl-qI=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/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)* ![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)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/5B2-SAai8IagckSYvXxTft5_lco=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/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. ![Christine Nxumalo and her late sister Virginia Machpelah, a Life Esidimeni victim. (Photo: Mark Lewis)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/BE6FecbwqNK3D9_6mEwswNd4VCU=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/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)* ![Christine Nxumalo at Life Esidimeni in 2017. Her sister Virginia Macapelah was among those who lost their lives. (Photo: Joyrene Kramer)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/Y0PUONg_yqE1xW8dtoygslSP1Eo=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/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)* ![Reverend Joseph Maboe and his late son, Life Esidimeni patient Hendrick ‘Billy’ Maboe. (Photo: Mark Lewis)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/1twHGtvilb4GXWJIm3Be0GnTcgY=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/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)* ![Family members break down during testimony at the Life Esidimeni arbitration hearings on 22 January 2018 in Johannesburg. (Photo: Gallo Images / Alet Pretorius)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/rbaMeMyWoJwI7HSm8hFobgaUPFk=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/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)* ![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)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/RqfYinCDj4388sKRUpJ0GWrd4pI=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/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)* ![Protesters at the Life Esidimeni hearings. (Photo: Joyrene Kramer)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/G2PUZ5eTA0Y2Jqadi6hAdgiPjrE=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/LifeEsidimeni_13.jpg) *Protesters at the Life Esidimeni hearings. (Photo: Joyrene Kramer)* ![Former Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke at the Life Esidimeni hearings. (Photo: Joyrene Kramer)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/RGUPXq_x9k5bFQowgz-zokevIPU=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/LifeEsidimeni_4.jpg) *Former Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke at the Life Esidimeni hearings. (Photo: Joyrene Kramer)* ![Opening statement by Adila Hassim, Life Esidimeni inquest, 19 july 2021. (Photo: Joyrene Kramer)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/APbb76lJfvXzSIoBltwVNuqU2cg=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/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**