Government denies Limpopo’s Life Esidimeni care centre on brink of collapse

The Limpopo social development department has branded as untrue allegations that the Life Esidimeni Shiluvana Frail Care Centre near Makhwibidung, outside Tzaneen, is on the brink of collapse.

This follows a recent report on the centre by the Democratic Alliance (DA), which suggests the facility may be in danger of following similar path to the September 2015 Life Esidimeni tragedy in Gauteng, which resulted in the death of 143 patients.

The Limpopo facility is also run by Life Esidimeni, a subsidiary of the Life Health Care group, on behalf of the Limpopo government. It currently houses 160 patients whose fate will be uncertain when Life Esidimeni’s management contract lapses in five weeks.

According to the DA report, the centre has serious shortages of staff, including two occupational therapists, a physiotherapist, and a nurse. It is also strapped for water with about 85 patients who need constant mental healthcare.

In 2018, former health minister Aaron Motsoaledi dispatched a team of mental health experts from the national department of health and the ministerial advisory committee on mental health, led by Prof Solly Rataemane, to the facility.

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The team, according to Motsoaledi, was tasked to probe the centre’s day-to-day operation and to investigate whether the Limpopo heath department was ready to take over control.

In a letter dated 28 March, 2018, addressed to Limpopo premier Stan Mathabatha and seen by The Citizen, Motsoaledi noted the following:

• 60% of the inmates needed full time health assistance and were bedridden
• 20% needed partial assistance as they could be moved around in wheelchairs; and
• 20% could walk around on their own but still needed to be looked after for their own safety.

The minister had informed Mathabatha that according to the report, the health department in Limpopo was not in a position to take over the centre.

The Citizen can reveal that the contract between the department and Life Esidimeni comes to an end before the end of September and it is still not clear which department will take over, health or social development.

On Wednesday the social development department branded claims that the centre was a “ticking time bomb” as untrue and that, to its knowledge, there were two occupational therapists, as required.

Departmental spokesperson Witness Tiva said the water shortage will be investigated and that a task team comprising members of the executive council, will look into finding a management solution.