Mahlangu questioned on emails sent before and after termination of Life Esidimeni contract

Former health MEC Qedani Mahlangu says she believed that the NGOs that accommodated patients moved from Life Esidimeni provided good quality services.

Mahlangu said she was also not informed by the officials in the department of the risks of transferring the patients to the NGOs.

“Yes I was not informed,” she said.

Mahlangu appeared before the Life Esidimeni inquest in the High Court in Pretoria on Monday, where she was cross-examined by SECTION27’s Advocate Hassim Adila.

ALSO READ: Qedani Mahlangu ‘relied’ on senior officials for information on Life Esidimeni project

Mahlangu made the announcement of the termination of the Life Esidimeni contract in October 2015.

The hearing will determine whether anyone can be held criminally liable after 144 mental health patients died after they were transferred from Life Esidimeni to other NGOs in 2016.

Advocate Adila questioned Mahlangu about some of the emails Mahlangu received before and after the termination of the contract, which she admitted not to have personally read.

Adila questioned Mahlangu if she had read an email from Professor Lesley Robertson, dated 23 June 2015, and addressed to her and copied to other officials.

“We are worried that the reduction of beds [20% reduction] at Life Esidimeni will have unintended costly negative consequences,” reads part of the letter.

“No I don’t recall it,” said Mahlangu.

‘My PA will handle it’

“As you can see in the previous correspondence, the letter would have been addressed to me but via Dr Manamela, so I’m not sure which one of these were sent to me directly and my office dealt with and which ones were sent to Dr Manamela requesting a meeting.

ALSO READ: ‘I knew I was going into a lion’s den,’ says Qedani Mahlangu on Gauteng health deployment

“If you look at the email addressed to the MEC of health and the people copied – and this is consistent with what I was saying at the arbitration – the first person is the director for mental health and substance abuse at the National Department of Health – Sifiso Phakathi, Barney Selebano, Dr Makgabo Manamela, these are people with authority and skills.

“I do not remember reading the letter. Correspondence coming to my office via email or any form, would be directed by my PA to the relevant people in the department so that they can come back to me with information of how we respond to those cases.”

“Personally, I didn’t reply because my PA would have sent the letter when it arrived to the HOD, who was also copied in the letter himself.

ALSO READ: Life Esidimeni: DA asks why govt is still paying Qedani Mahlangu’s legal fees?

“My PA will handle it in the following regard; it’s not a secret. I am not in medical profession, I’ve never professed to be one. My skills and expertise are in a different form – I am a political head. When I get a question about an issue that is outside of my expertise, I had to rely on people who were knowledgeable, trained and implementers of the programme.”

‘I’m not sure’

When asked if she followed up with the officials on what their response was, Mahlangu said she was “not sure”.

“I’m not sure whether I saw the letter at the time or not, but in line with the answers I have given before, I referred them – through my office – to the HOD. I was never in the office all the time, whenever I was in the office I would be in meetings all the time and keeping my political responsibilities.”

Another email from Robertson, dated 30 October 2015, and addressed to the MEC and others, was also brought up.

The email was bringing her attention to the letter of June 2015, saying things were worse because of the announcement of the termination of the contract at Life Esidimeni.

ALSO READ: Life Esidimeni: Patients’ transfer ‘not a rushed job’ – Qedani Mahlangu

“We’re deeply concerned that community mental health services have not sufficiently developed. We request a meeting with the MEC for health to discuss this matter further,” reads the letter.

When SECTION27 asked her if she had replied to this one, Mahlangu said: “I referred the letter to the necessary heads”.

Mahlangu said she did not remember meeting with the South African Society of Psychiatrists, who had requested the meeting.

She said she did want to attend the meeting but could not, due to schedules being changed at the last minute.

The inquest continues.

ALSO READ: Life Esidimeni: R400m paid to victims, with more compensation expected