Business as usual for NGO named in Esidimeni tragedy

EVERYTHING appears normal at the premises of an NGO accused of being responsible for the deaths of eight psychiatric patients that died in the Life Esidimeni tragedy.

When The Star visited Mosego Homes in Krugersdorp on the West Rand yesterday, its 90 patients were having chicken, vegetable and a salad for lunch.

The NGO uses eight houses but only six were in use by psychiatric patients. Male and female users were kept in different houses.

The tour started around lunchtime and because of the rain, the patients were indoors eating. Those who cannot feed themselves were being helped by caregivers and kitchen staff.

The floors and yards were clean. Beds were neatly made while groceries, medicine and other essentials packed away in cupboards or in the storerooms in the various houses.

During a visit yesterday by Jack Bloom, DA health spokesperson in Gauteng, the media and government officials were taken on a tour of the homes. “I am very impressed that they are using homes and there were no beds found stacked one on top of the other,” Bloom said.

Directors of Mosego Homes, which was fingered in Professor Malegapuru Makgoba’s report into the deaths of about 144 Esidimeni patients claim that only four people died in their care and not seven.

Dorothy Sekhukhune and Mmaletsatsi Mokgotjoa spoke out for the first time yesterday, and said there was “no truth” in the claim that seven patients died in their care during the marathon project implemented by former Gauteng health MEC Qedani Mahlangu in 2016.

They have also disputed that police traced and found that the eighth patient had died at the home.

Mosego has been operational since 2008 and was licensed to care for psycho-geriatric patients.

“You have to separate three from this seven. Three did not die in Mosego. We took actions and they died in hospital. Surely, the hospital also has to account?” Mokgotjoa asked.

The directors said postmortems of the deceased were done but they were never given the results.

The NGO appealed against the Health Ombudsman’s damning findings, but the Appeals Tribunal overturned them.

“For us to be very clear on this, I still insist that let us go back and look at the clinical files of those people and see the pattern of their physical conditions over and above their psychiatric conditions. The clinical files would have guided us,” Sekhukhune said.

She said patients were first assessed by officials before they were brought to the home.

“We said do not lump us with the rest of the NGOs,” Sekhukhune said.

She said it was not true that patients were starved and illtreated because the home can “preserve funds” to ensure that they would be able to give patients food.

Senior officials from the Gauteng mental health directorate labelled former provincial director of mental health Dr Makgabo Manamela “a liar” and accused her of redirecting patients that should have gone to hospital to Precious Angels, which was situated in Danville, Pretoria, where dozens of them died.

Manamela resigned while she was on suspension over the deaths. This was a day after suspended head of department Dr Barney Selebano tendered his resignation.

Deputy director of the mental health directorate Dr Sophie Lenkwane said it was not true that patients were starved at Mosego.

“I must say, Mosego was one of the NGOs in the West Rand that we were saying was a shining example for us,” Lenkwane said.

Gauteng police spokesperson Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said this week that the search for 57 untraced patients was continuing. He said police had handed over the dockets of more than 140 patients who died during the project to the National Prosecuting Authority for a decision on whether to prosecute.

DA health spokesperson impressed