‘Patients’ move due to high prices’

Ex-MEC’s lawyer claims gouging

A legal representative for former MEC for health Qedani Mahlangu has accused the Life Esidimeni group of price gouging and rendering the department of health unable to afford its fees.

Adv Laurence Hodes, speaking at the Life Esidimeni inquest yesterday, took the court through the increasing fees of the Life Esidimeni contract between 2011 and 2015.

He said the department of health was paying R209m in the 2011/2012 financial year for 2,000 patients and this increased to R224m in 2012/2013. Then in the 2013/2014 financial year it cost the department R235m and by 2014/2015 it cost R323m.

The inquest is investigating whether there is any criminal liability for the 144 deaths of mental healthcare patients in ill-equipped facilities.

Dr Morgan Mkhatshwa, former managing director of Life Esidimeni, denied the price gouging and said it was in line with the increasing cost of living in general.

“The rate or tariff increases were renegotiated on a yearon-year basis. Life Esidimeni did not have any control over the escalations caused by CPI [consumer price index].

“The annual tariff increases were deliberated by the Life Esidimeni team and the department of health.

“As much as the cost of living has been going up for the normal citizens it has been going up for the Life Esidimeni facilities as well.”

Hodes said after the patients were removed, Life Esidimeni did not provide them with their basic necessities.

“The documents pertaining to the people and their medications were not received,” said Hodes.

“Even Miss Mahlangu had to appeal to public on radio 702 with John Robbie to get clothing and shoes for people who left your facilities without the very basics of clothing.”

Mkhatshwa said he cannot take responsibility for this as patients were taken by health officials to their new residences. Hodes said Life Esidimeni is a business that was trying to make money.

Hodes also once again denied that Mahlangu was responsible for moving patients and that it was a departmental decision. “She never set this target, it was the department and not the MEC,” said Hodes.

Hodes, who continued to poke holes in Mkhatshwa's statement, said 143 patients within Life Esidimeni died between 2012 and 2017.

Mkhatshwa agreed with Hodes that natural death occurs in healthcare facilities.

“Death is a natural cause for everyone and in every facility there will be death. It depends on the conditons and I cannot say people would have not died if they were at Esidimeni.”

The inquest continues.

‘‘ Life Esidimeni did not have any control over cost escalations...