NPA eyes prosecution of Mahlangu and Manamela for only two Life Esidimeni deaths

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has received a legal opinion recommending the prosecution of former Gauteng health MEC Qedani Mahlangu and former director of mental health in Gauteng, Dr Makgabo Manamela, for the deaths of two mental healthcare users in the Life Esidimeni tragedy.

The families of those who suffered and lost their lives during the saga released a statement saying that the Acting Director of Public Prosecutions, Marika Jansen van Vuuren, met with them on Monday, 18 August to inform them of the development.

They said the recommendation that only two of the deaths warranted prosecution was “unjust and a betrayal of the 144 lost lives”.

The NPA told the families that a team of prosecutors had been formed to assess the legal opinion and the evidence presented during the Life Esidimeni inquest to make a final decision on prosecution.

The legal opinion issued to the NPA has been described as a significant step forward by the activists fighting for justice in this case. However, it has also been a source of frustration for the families.

“A decision to criminally prosecute all those whose actions caused the torture and terrible deaths of our loved ones is what we have demanded all along. In this regard we feel vindicated and welcome the NPA’s movement towards a decision. However, almost 10 years after the deaths and over a year since the inquest judgment, there is still no decision on prosecution, even following a legal opinion,” said the Life Esidimeni families.

A decade of delays

In 2016, at least 144 mental healthcare patients died when the termination of the Gauteng Department of Health’s contract with long-term psychiatric care hospital Life Esidimeni resulted in more than 1,400 patients being moved to ill-equipped and unlicensed non-government organisations.

Just over a year ago, on 10 July 2024, Judge Mmonoa Teffo issued a ruling in the Life Esidimeni inquest stating that Mahlangu and Manamela could be found criminally responsible for the deaths of nine Life Esidimeni patients.

The case was handed over to the NPA with the expectation that the body would consider the judge’s ruling and decide if the pair would be criminally charged.

In Teffo’s ruling, the nine patients whose deaths were found to be caused by Mahlangu and Manamela’s negligence were Matlakala Motsoahae, Virginia Machpelah, Terrence Chaba, Frans Dekker, Charity Ratsotso, Deborah Phehla, Lucky Maseko, Daniel Josiah and Koketso Mogoerane.

The legal opinion given to the NPA recommends prosecution for the deaths of just two of these individuals: Machpelah and Chaba.

The Life Esidimeni tragedy has been the subject of a health ombud investigation, an arbitration presided over by former Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke, and the inquest under Teffo.

The families of the victims argued that the NPA needed to engage with the full body of evidence collected during these processes, and through the “diligent” efforts of South African Police Service investigators to establish a need for prosecution that “reflects the full scale of the tragedy”.

“A decision to prosecute on the basis of only two out of 144 deaths angered and devastated the families present. We regard the NPA’s position as inadequate, unjust and a betrayal of the 144 lost lives. By limiting accountability to only two deaths, it feels like the NPA is sending a message that the other 142 deaths do not matter,” said the Life Esidimeni families.

Lumka Mahanjana, a spokesperson for the NPA, confirmed that the legal opinion received by the prosecuting authority recommended the pursuit of criminal charges for the deaths of only two of the nine individuals identified in the Life Esidimeni inquest.

“[The senior counsel] recommended that in respect of the other seven, there might be difficulties in proving the causal link,” she said.

At this stage, there is no timeline for the new prosecuting team’s consideration of the evidence, according to Mahanjana. She added that “this matter is a priority to the NPA and is receiving attention”.

‘We’ve become one’

Christine Nxumalo, the sister of Virginia Machpelah, said that Monday’s meeting with the NPA left her very emotional. While she was glad that the NPA was considering criminal charges for her sister’s death, she felt anger on behalf of the other families.

“I literally broke down and cried,” she said. “My sister and Terrence [Chaba]... died at Precious Angels. That NGO alone had about 20 deaths. So how is it that for these two, they’re able to make the link, and then for everybody else, they can’t make the link?”

Machpelah suffered from early-onset Alzheimer’s and had lived at Life Esidimeni Randfontein Care Centre for two years before being moved to Precious Angels NGO. She was one of 20 mental healthcare patients to die at the organisation in seven months.

The NGO was unlicensed, and patients were housed in conditions that the public interest law centre SECTION27 would later describe as “squalid and inhumane”. Many of those who lost their lives showed signs of emaciation, dehydration and pneumonia.

“I started off fighting for my sister, but as families, we’ve become one. We’ve travelled this road together, and we’re here because of this standing together. We would not have made it had we done it individually,” said Nxumalo.

“[The families] are angry and they don’t understand on what basis their loved ones are not included [in prosecution efforts]. The resolution yesterday was we’re going to fight even harder. We’re going to be louder. We are not going to let this just disappear.”

Importance of accountability

Sasha Stevenson, the executive director of SECTION27, said the legal centre welcomed the legal opinion issued to the NPA as “a good indication of a movement towards prosecution”.

However, she added, “It’s just incredibly frustrating and difficult for the families and for us to hear that after a year [and] after the mountains of evidence that have come out of the various processes in this case … there’s still no decision taken on prosecution.

“There’s a big gap in justice, and it’s really important that the gap is filled — that there is and there’s seen to be accountability for the people who the inquest judge found, on the face of it, negligently caused the deaths of mental healthcare users.”

Mark Heywood, activist and SECTION27 co-founder, noted that pursuing prosecution against Mahlangu would be “hugely significant” as it would be the first time in South Africa a politician faced criminal accountability for actions carried out while they were in office.

He added that if Mahlangu were successfully prosecuted for two of the Life Esidimeni deaths, those two victims would be representative of “every one of the 144 people who died, as well as the people who survived and who were tortured”.

Reflecting on the role of the Life Esidimeni families in pursuing accountability for the tragedy, he said, “It’s incredible how loyal those brothers and mothers and sisters have been to the people who they lost, because the rawness of the pain is as acute as if this had happened six months ago. And the expressions of anger for justice have not diminished over 10 years.

“If the families hadn’t persisted in the way that they have done, there would never be justice. This would have disappeared and dropped off the radar on numerous occasions over the last few years, because the odds have been hugely stacked against justice. And so this is an example of citizen activism.” DM