Director’s R641 269 salary
FOR THE 10 months since her suspension, former Gauteng head of mental services Dr Makgabo Manamela has earned more than R600 000.
At an alternative dispute-resolution hearing into the Life Esidimeni debacle yesterday, Manamela refused to disclose how much she earned, raising the ire of head of the arbitration presided over by retired Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke.
“If you want to know how much I earn, it’s gazetted. If you want to know how much the president earns, you can find it. You can Google it now,” he said to her.
Section 27 advocate Adila Hassim read answers given to the Gauteng legislature regarding Manamela’s salary. It said she earned R385 269.01 while she has been on suspension between February and July. This means that up to this month she has earned about R641 269.
Former head of department Dr Tiego Selebano earned about R784 000 between February and July.
Hassim said that while Manamela earned a lot of money, she refused to take responsibility for her role in the debacle which led to the deaths of more than 141 psychiatric patients.
A total of 1 700 of them were transferred to ill-equipped NGOs after Life Esidimeni was shut down.
“Your salary indicates seniority, but you keep on saying you were too junior to make decisions or too senior to take responsibility,” Hassim said.
Hassim said Manamela ignored warnings from various organisations and the families of the patients. Among the organisations that had sounded the warning bell was the South African Society of Psychiatrists and the SA Depression and Anxiety Group.
Hassim said Manamela did not respond to warning letters, citing rights violations of the patients.
Moseneke asked Manamela about who gave her instructions on moving patients to NGOs. “It was MEC Mahlangu and Dr Selebano,” she said.
Asked why she gave a licence to Ethel Ncube’s Precious Angels organisation to care for adults while the organisation indicated it cared for children, Manamela said: “I’m sorry to say because they are also people, but patients with profound intellectual disabilities are still classified as children – even if they can be over 40 years.”
Most patients died at Precious Angels, which did not have a proper licence to operate. “It was heartbreaking for me,” Manamela said.
The hearing, which takes place in a tent in Parktown, Johannesburg, was cut short due to heavy rain. Moseneke joked: “Dr Manamela, I think the gods are angry.” – Additional reporting by ANA