Esidimeni 28 still unaccounted for, death toll likely to rise

Despite the damning judgment of former deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke in the Life Esidimeni arbitration hearings that investigated the deaths of mental patients – and in March awarded compensation to their families – the saga is not over yet as 28 patients are still missing.

And the death toll is likely to rise.

At hearings this year, former Gauteng health MEC Qedani Mahlangu and other senior government officials were grilled about their roles in the transfer of about 1 700 mentally ill patients to unlicensed and ill-equipped nongovernmental organisations.

The transfers to inadequate facilities led to the deaths of 144 patients, with an initial 62 patients going missing. In his judgment in mid-March, Moseneke awarded the families of deceased and surviving mental health patients R1.2 million each. Government was also ordered to pay the legal costs for the arbitration and to provide trauma counselling for up to three family members for each patient, deceased or surviving.

Moseneke found that not only were mental healthcare users deprived of their rights and exposed to inhumane suffering, but their families had been stripped of their rights and dignity.

DA Gauteng shadow health MEC Jack Bloom said yesterday that although he was pleased that the missing persons list had been reduced significantly. as 34 patients had been located, the death toll would most likely rise as the chances the police would find the remaining missing patients were decreasing.

Bloom said what made finding them more challenging was that some of the information used to file missing persons cases was unclear.

“According to the list from the Gauteng health department that the police have given me, there are 18 males and 10 females who are missing, ranging in age from 27 to 79 years old,” he said.

“In two cases, the date of birth is given as 1900 and 1914, but this seems to be a mistake. In three cases there isn’t even a name, or there is a description such as ‘male child David who was born in 1978’.

“At some stage the missing persons will have to be presumed dead, as they cannot survive without proper care for over two years.”

Although a court dropped the charges he laid concerning the matter, Bloom said the police had taken over the case. But he said due to the complexities involved, with several charges needing to be laid, progress had been very slow.

“The Esidimeni nightmare will not be over until the remaining 28 missing patients have been accounted for,” he said.

For more news your way, follow The Citizen on Facebook and Twitter.