Life Esidimeni families still await justice, as NPA weighs options

Nine years on, the victims' loved ones continue to push for criminal accountability.

- By Tamsin Metelerkamp

Nine years ago, 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 led to more than 1,400 patients being moved to ill-equipped and unlicensed NGOs.

A year ago, on 10 July 2024, Judge Mmon-oa Teffo issued a ruling in the Life Esidimeni inquest, stating that former Gauteng health MEC Qedani Mahlangu and former director of mental health in Gauteng Dr Makgabo Manamela could be found criminally responsible for the deaths of nine Life Esidimeni patients.

The case was handed over to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), with the expectation that it would consider Teffo’s ruling and decide whether Mahlangu and Manamela would be criminally charged. However, the NPA has yet to decide whether the pair will face prosecution.

Speaking to Daily Maverick, Christine Nxumalo reflected on the loss of her sister, Virginia Machpelah, one of the nine patients whose deaths were found to have been caused by Mahlangu and Manamela’s negligence. “To leave somebody unattended, knowing the person is incapable of looking after themselves, rather than returning that person to the family... To leave her [with] no food, no water... If that’s not cruelty, then I don’t know what is.”