Six years later and the former head of Gauteng Provincial Health  Dr Barney Selebano has held himself accountable for the deaths of 144 Life Esidimeni patients. He blamed himself, saying, "I took that decision and I wish I had not." This was during his cross examination at the Life Esidimeni Inquest held in the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. Selebano faced four days of extensive questioning before the inquest adjourned to 17 October.  

INQUEST INTO THE TRAGEDY

Former Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu and former head of the mental health directorate Makgoba Manamela are among a string of witnesses called to take responsibility for the 2016 Life Esidimeni tragedy. In the end, the inquest will determine whether anyone should be held criminally liable. Selebano said he was warned not to sign the licences by Mahlangu after the health ombudsman told him that they were unlawful since they did not have his signature. However his decision contributed to the displacement of over a 1000 mentally ill patients, with NGOs previously testifying that they operated for months without getting any funds from the health department. Patients were exposed to abuse, malnutrition and lack of proper medication at the NGOs and what's worse is that some of their families did not know where they were.

REMOVAL OF THE PATIENTS

During Selebano's questioning, presiding judge Mmonoa Teffo asked who signed for the patients to be removed from the NGOs following death reports.
"We discussed their removal as senior managers,"said Selebano. Teffo said someone had to be accountable and Selebano said he takes responsibility because he used his discretion to have the patients removed. Meanwhile Manamela, who scored herself a warrant of arrest which was later withdrawn ,is due to testify when the inquest resumes. Manamela was due to testify in the previous weeks but failed to do so claiming that she has been sick. Judge Teffo warned that she would not tolerate any further delays from Manamela next month.

IGNORING THE WARNINGS

Life Esidimeni served as a long term psychiatric hospital which provided specialised chronic care to nearly 2000 mentally ill patients. The health department moved the Esidimeni patients to NGOs and other psychiatric hospitals because they wanted to deinstitutionalise mental health care and save costs. This move was a concern because the safety of the patients was not guaranteed.Some  families even protested that this was not good for their loved ones.
However the department went ahead and ignored these warnings that have brought dire implications.