Esidimeni patients unaccounted for

MISSING: 21 PATIENTS ARE STILL UNACCOUNTED FOR

The pain continues for the families of 21 mental health patients still missing after the deaths of 144 others.

I am astonished at claims there have been ‘no delays’ in finding them – Bloom.

While the relatives of the 144 mental patients that were accounted for in the Life Esidimeni tragedy may have found closure, the pain continues for the families of 21 patients who are still missing.

The Gauteng government has acknowledged that these patients have not yet been found, after being released from provincial government care during the Life-Esidimeni scandal.

They were not part of the investigation by the Arbitration Process led by former deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke, which probed the fate of the 144 patients who died.

This eventually led to a recommendation that compensation be paid to the relatives of the deceased patients, and forced senior provincial health officials and former MEC, Qedani Mahlangu, to account for the deaths.

Yesterday, in answers to oral questions in the Gauteng legislature from DA shadow health MEC Jack Bloom, provincial health MEC, Dr Gwen Ramakgopa, confirmed that 21 patients were still unaccounted for.

Ramakgopa said the patients left Esidimeni between November 10, 2015 and October 31, 2016. Three were sent to NGOs, one to a hospital, and one to a family. No information was available on the others.

She said her department had made every effort to locate the patients, including checking with NGOs, hospitals, other provinces, and home affairs. The special investigating unit has also been requested to assist in finding out what happened to them.

“I am astonished that Ramokgopa claims that there have been ‘no delays’ in finding the patients, as it is now more than two years since they disappeared. It seems that the department has met a dead end in finding the remaining patients as the number has not come down since July this year, when I was told that there were 20 patients still missing,” Bloom said.

“Sadly, many of these patients are probably dead, joining the 144 other patients who died as a result of the arrogance, cruelty and corruption that caused the Esidimeni horror. The terrible fate of the missing patients should be added to the charges faced by the perpetrators, who should be tried and punished in court as soon as possible,” he said.

The Life Esidimeni issue came to the fore after Bloom investigated reports that 36 patients had died in the care of non-governmental organisations to which they were released when the Gauteng health department suddenly cancelled the Life Esidimeni healthcare group’s contract.

This figure kept growing over time, until it finally came to 144.