Pressure to move mental patients came from MEC
PRESSURE to place patients in non-government organisations came from former Gauteng health MEC Qedani Mahlangu.
This is one of the admissions suspended Gauteng head of department Dr Barney Selebano eventually made while on the stand at the Life Esidimeni hearing.
Evidence leader Patrick Ngutshana said in response: “Now we are getting somewhere.”
Selebano was forced to testify at the Life Esidimeni hearing after losing his court bid on Monday to challenge the subpoena.
Selebano testified that some NGOs, including Precious Angels, took in more mentally ill patients than they could cope with so that they could make more money‚ calling it a “numbers game”. Twenty patients died at Precious Angels. Selebano admitted that there had been great pressure to move patients into NGOs after the Life Esidimeni homes contract was cancelled.
However, he would not say who cancelled the contract, leaving almost 1 700 severely mentally ill and intellectually disabled patients without homes. It was a team decision and teams were looking at many Gauteng health department contracts to try to save money, Selebano said. “We were told there was no money.” But he did not shed light on why the contract was cancelled, other than to say “financial pressures”.
Retired deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke‚ who is in charge of the Esidimeni hearing‚ eventually told him he and the families were hoping to get answers as to what had really happened.
“It is a very important part of healing‚ Dr Selebano.
“You are a very vital part of this. You are the man who signed off on the plan.”
Selebano testified in August last year that he had closed down NGOs at the behest of Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi‚ who called him following media reports of the deaths of 36 mentally ill patients.
He would only say the shut down was because he had been instructed to and that Motsoaledi had told him, “we can’t afford any more deaths”.
Selebano eventually admitted NGOs were “not fit for purpose”.