Place of suffering, not dignity

Iis a word that conjures up ideas of dignity in the minds of those who can speak or have some understanding of isixhosa and related languages.

Such people, who number in the tens of millions in South Africa, would therefore expect nothing but dignity, augustness, a sense of pride and selfrespect, and a composed manner of handling affairs to be associated with anything that goes by the name Esidimeni – place of dignity.

Sadly, Life Esidimeni will go down as probably the most shameful and painful episode of neglect, suffering and callous ill-treatment of those who are among the most vulnerable in our society.

Even in English, Esidimeni has become a word that evokes horror and will take time to forget.

It is likely to be remembered long after this week’s arbitration order by retired deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke. He set a precedent by treating disabled and mentally-ill people the same way as the able-bodied and healthy in considering compensating their families for the pain, loss and suffering inflicted over an extended period during the roll-out of the “marathon project” to move them to non-governmental organisations.

Of the 1700 patients, some of whom were transported on trucks, 144 died in the ill-prepared hands of the NGOS and 44 remain unaccounted for.

It is an indictment of all tiers of government that this excoriating order was delivered the week South Africa paused to remember the 69 victims of the ruthless apartheid police 58 years ago.

The two incidents, Esidimeni and the massacre of anti-pass laws protesters in March 1960, are far from similar, but the attitude to vulnerable and defenceless people and their rights was the same.

The mission was to implement, at all costs, a flawed project in the latest event and to stop peaceful, justified protests in the earlier one – only much more was expected of the current democratically elected government.

The award by Moseneke of up to R1.2m to affected families will, no doubt, go some way towards healing the wounds. But this must not be the end of the saga.

Those involved, such as former health MEC Qedani Mahlangu, must face the might of the law, while the political leaders and bureaucrats should be warned of the consequences when they forget they are there to serve the people.

We support calls for a memorial so that generations to come are reminded of the tragedy and it is never repeated.