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

More than R400 million has so far been paid to the victims of the Life Esidimeni tragedy, with much more expected to be paid in the future.

This was revealed at the provincial legislature’s health committee meeting on Friday, according to the Democratic Alliance’s (DA’s) Gauteng health spokesperson Jack Bloom.

Over 400 qualify for compensation

At the meeting, the Gauteng government said 405 patients qualified to receive compensation of R1.2 million each. It added that it had received 514 claims.

Bloom said this money would be split between the families and the mental healthcare user, if they are still alive.

The Life Esidimeni tragedy began in 2015, when the Gauteng Health Department terminated its contract with the Life Esidimeni group and moved its patients to non-governmental facilities.

This led to at least 144 mental patients losing their lives.

At the time, Gauteng health MEC Qedani Mahlangu said the contract with Life Esidimeni was too expensive.

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In 2018, Justice Dikgang Moseneke ordered the government to compensate the victims and families of the Life Esidimeni tragedy.

There were initially 134 claimants that received compensation during Moseneke’s arbitration.
Another 271 claimants have benefitted from Moseneke’s recommendation that other victims be compensated, said Bloom.

“Further amounts can be expected to be paid as only 60 mental health care users have so far received their portion of the funds,” said Bloom.

“The Office of the Premier has applied for curators to administer these funds, and law firms have been appointed to assist families with an executor for the deceased claims.”

Life Esidimeni inquest

An inquest into the deaths of the Life Esidimeni patients started in July 2021. It is meant to determine if anyone can be held criminally liable for the tragedy.

Mahlangu is expected to testify in 2023.

Dr Makgabo Manamela, the former head of mental health at the Gauteng Health Department, told the inquest in October that Mahlangu threatened to fire officials who did not comply with her instructions to move the Life Esidimeni patients.

Manamela said the patients were moved, despite it being impractical.
“We did not have enough NGOs. It was impractical,” she said.

She also said there was a service level agreement, and the department had to legally comply with it.

Manamela no-shows

Manamela made these claims after initially failing to appear at inquest on numerous occasions.
She repeatedly cited illness for not being able to appear before the High Court in Pretoria.

Eventually, a warrant of arrest was issued to force Manamela to appear.

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No-one has yet been charged for the Life Esidimeni deaths. Bloom said this is necessary for families to find closure.

“The payouts are necessary but cannot fully compensate for the suffering and the loss of lives,” he said.

“The inquest needs to speed up its proceedings as families will only have closure when the culprits are charged and sentenced.”