Esidimeni presiding judge must now appear in court
ONE of the leaders behind the Esidimeni tragedy‚ who is refusing to abide by his subpoena to explain himself‚ has filed court papers asking former deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke to appear in court.
The former head of the Gauteng health department, Dr Barney Selebano, has been subpoenaed to appear at the Esidimeni hearings on December 4‚ after telling the state he would not come willingly. Moseneke is the judge at the hearings‚ which are to give closure to families of more than 118 mentally ill people who died in February in illequipped NGOs.
Moseneke has said the hearings will not end until the three people behind the decision to close Life Esidimeni testify: Selebano‚ former MEC Qedani Mahlangu and the former director of mental health, Makgoba Manamela.
Yesterday‚ state advocate Tebogo Hutamo told the hearings that Selebano had filed an urgent interdict in the Johannesburg High Court to set aside “the subpoena requiring him to appear before these proceedings”.
Hutamo said the court case would be heard on November 28. The state’s view was that “Selebano should appear before hearings”, he added.
Selebano did not cite Section 27 – representatives of the families at the hearing – in his application‚ as he should have done‚ advocate Adila Hassim told the hearing. However‚ Selebano had cited hearing judge and former deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke. This means the former deputy chief justice‚ once the second highest judge in the land‚ now has to consult lawyers and appear in court. “I might have to shut this [hearing] down and go fight this case‚” Moseneke told the hearing.
Lawyer Ulrich Roux‚ not involved in the process‚ said he did not know why Selebano was challenging the subpoena‚ but “in theory any subpoena can be reviewed in court”.
Manamela‚ who moved patients into crowded NGOs‚ rejected her first subpoena to appear last week‚ using a minor problem with its date. She has a new subpoena for November 20 and has not yet objected‚ Hassim said.
Mahlangu is in London. Hutamo said he was conversing with her new lawyers about her testifying this month but the state could not serve a subpoena on her as it did not know her residential address in England. Her lawyer, Angelo Christophorou, told reporters at the weekend that Mahlangu was studying at the University of Bedfordshire‚ when yesterday it emerged she was studying at the Global Banking School in London and had been suspended.
Christophorou explained: “The Global Banking School is affiliated to the University of Bedfordshire ... Our client is not evading responsibilities and as at all material times tendered to attend the arbitration.”