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Life Esidimeni

latest news & developments
Loss upon loss: Christine Nxumalo holds a picture of her and her late sister Virginia Machpelah and niece Shanice. (Mark Lewis)
FRIDAY

The heartbreaking journeys of Life Esidimeni families

Extracts from Life Esidimeni: Portraits of Lives Lost

  • Harriet Perlman
6 min read
Former Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu testifies during the Life Esidimeni arbitration hearings on January 22, 2018 in Johannesburg. , South Africa. (Photo by Alet Pretorius/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
DAVID MAKHURA

Remembering the Life Esidimeni tragedy

Section27, representing 44 of the bereaved families, has called for those responsible to be charged with culpable homicide

  • Umamah Bakharia
8 min read
Money moves: Life Healthcare used A  Re Ageng, which assists abused and vulnerable people, as a conduit for payments from the social development department because it did not have a registered account with the government. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
ARTICLE

Gauteng ignored finding of ‘corrupt’ relationship with Life Healthcare

The social development department and the company are accused of contravening the Prevention of Organised Crimes Act

  • Khaya Koko
12 min read
The deaths of 141 mental health patients occurred when they were moved to unlicensed, ill-equipped NGOs (Photo by Alet Pretorius/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
ARTICLE

Inquest finds former health MEC Mahlangu caused Life Esidimeni deaths

The death of 141 mental health patients occurred when they were moved to unlicensed, ill-equipped NGOs This content is restricted to registered users and subscribers. Get Your…

  • Umamah Bakharia
1 min read
Clean: The Witpoort Recovery Centre in Brakpan was found by the forensic investigators to be ‘well managed’. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
ARTICLE

Life Healthcare ‘milked’ R112m from Gauteng –forensic  investigation

A forensic report has found that funds from the social development department are being ‘channelled’ to a private company

  • Khaya Koko
10 min read
CONSTITUTIONAL DEMOCRACY

South Africa is not yet a free and equal state

The injustices of the apartheid era have survived and expanded, and human rights flouder, in a state that was supposed to be founded on the rule of law and constitutionalism

  • Samantha Mashapa
6 min read
Senior clinicians have warned of a healthcare crisis if Charlotte Maxeke Academic Hospital remains closed. (BigFive Images/ Gallo)
ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE

Gauteng patients are victims of a sick system

The blame for the fire at Charlotte Maxeke hospital and the delays in refurbishing and reopening its damaged sections has been placed squarely at the feet of the provincial…

  • Nation Nyoka
7 min read
Justice Raymond Zondo, left, hands over part 1 of the State Capture Commission report to President Cyril Ramaphosa on 4 January. (GCIS/Flickr)
JACOB ZUMA

It’s imperative that South Africa moves fast on state capture prosecutions. Here’s why

Most South Africans believe the report into state capture must be followed up to ensure that those responsible for rampant corruption are held accountable

  • Penelope Andrews
6 min read
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)
COVID 19

SIU still to settle civil cases totalling R6.3bn

The Special Investigating Unit has cases dating back to 2019, but rejected that this is a problem

  • Khaya Koko
  • M&G Data Desk
5 min read
In an episode of The Burning Platform podcast, the host, Gareth Cliff asserted that racism was not a priority in the 1 November local elections and claimed that no one was interested in identity politics.
BERNARD MAGUBANE

Cliff and Steenhuisen are wrong. Here’s why race matters in South Africa

Both the podcast host and the leader of the Democratic Alliance believe in a toothless non-racialism that ignores the historical foundation of racism and the pain it inflicts in…

  • Andile Zulu
15 min read
Graphic: John McCann/M&G
HEALTHCARE WORKERS

World Mental Health Day: Poverty should not determine quality of care

The Life Esidimeni tragedy is a stark illustration of how people’s socioeconomic standing affects the mental health services they are able to access

  • Samke Ngcobo
2 min read
Treatment Action Campaign members and supporters march to demand answers from the MEC for health, Dr Makhura at the premieres office in Newtown. (Photo: Andy Mkosi)
ANELE YAWA

Treatment Action Campaign demands Makhura fix Gauteng’s health system ‘mess’ now

The TAC wants the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital, closed after a fire in April, to reopen fully as soon as possible, because other hospitals are overburdened.

  • Chris Gilili
4 min read
The deaths of 141 mental health patients occurred when they were moved to unlicensed, ill-equipped NGOs (Photo by Alet Pretorius/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
AFRIFORUM

We had no control over rushed and haphazard transfer of Life Esidimeni patients, former director tells inquest

Worried and distraught patients were deeply shaken by the decision to move them to other facilities

  • Chris Gilili
3 min read
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
The deaths of 141 mental health patients occurred when they were moved to unlicensed, ill-equipped NGOs (Photo by Alet Pretorius/Gallo Images/Getty Images)
ADVOCACY PROJECT

An inquest into the Life Esidimeni tragedy will start in July

A memorial portal has been launched to help to families of those who have mental illnesses

  • Chris Gilili
4 min read