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Hundreds of South African members of the non-governmental organisation Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) protest outside the Life Esidimeni arbitration public hearing on January 22, 2018 in Johannesburg, South Africa. At least 143 mentally ill patients died after South African authorities moved them in 2016 from hospital to unlicensed health facilities that were compared to “concentration camps”, a government investigation revealed on January 17, 2018. Many of the deaths were due to pneumonia, dehydration and diarrhoea, as the patients were hurriedly shifted to 27 “poorly-prepared” facilities in an apparent cost-cutting measure that showed evidence of neglect. / AFP PHOTO / GIANLUIGI GUERCIA (Photo credit should read GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP via Getty Images)
ADILA HASSIM

Poor government decisions caused Life Esidimeni deaths, inquest hears

Health officials pushed ahead with transferring patients to ill-equipped NGO facilities despite several warnings

  • Chris Gilili
  • Charma du Plessis
3 min read