More witnesses expected to testify at Life Esidimeni Inquest

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The Life Esidimeni Inquest is set to resume on Monday with more witnesses expected to testify following a week’s break.

Former Deputy Director-General for Mental Health Services in Gauteng, Hannah Jacobus, who was responsible for overseeing NGOs, is the last to give testimony.

Jacobus was grilled on staffing shortages, physical environments and non-compliance issues which posed a risk to mental health care users.

The video below is reporting on the court proceedings of January 21:

Earlier this month, Jacobus told the Life Esidimeni Inquest that new Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) had to ensure their facilities were up to scratch before the transfer of patients to their facilities.

This is after the Life Esidimeni project was shut down by the Gauteng Health Department in June 2016.

Jacobus testified that NGOs were not assisted financially to set up facilities for the transfer of mentally ill patients from the Life Esidimeni NGOs.

The inquest was established to determine who should be held criminally liable for the deaths of 144 mental healthcare users in 2016.

According to the Health Ombudsman findings, they died of hunger, neglect and dehydration during and after being transferred from Life Esidimeni to unlawful and ill-equipped NGOs.