Task team acts over report into deaths of patients

Almost a week after the release of the health ombudsman’s report into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of 94 mentally ill patients, the Gauteng provincial government task team has finally begun making moves.

In a statement released yesterday afternoon, the province announced that several steps had been taken towards implementing the findings of the report by ombudsman Professor Malegapuru Makgoba.

It was announced that former Tshwane mayor and deputy health minister Dr Gwen Ramokgopa had formally been sworn in as a member of the provincial legislature and appointed by Premier David Makhura as the new health MEC.

The statement also revealed that the disciplinary processes against senior members of the Gauteng Health Department who were implicated in the report had been instituted.

The task team has also placed at least three of the province’s largest hospitals on high alert to treat emergency cases of mentally ill patients while the feasibility of moving them without harming them is assessed.

The statement also addresses the issue of the five NGOs that were flagged in Makgoba’s report as high risk. These institutions are, according to the provincial government, being prioritised in order to move patients from them as soon as possible.

“A team of specialists and officials are visiting NGOs that are currently caring for mental health patients who were transferred from Life Esidimeni centres.

“Specialists have advised that in transferring patients to suitable institutions, everything must be done to avoid any negative impact on the patients. The five high-risk NGOs identified by the report of the health ombudsman are being prioritised,” it said.

The SAPS has been asked to centralise all the cases relating to the Gauteng Mental Health Marathon Programme and to give them priority.

Meanwhile, the Gauteng legislature’s ANC caucus have lashed out at DA member of the provincial legislature Jack Bloom for what they believe is “political opportunism and grandstanding” over a statement he sent out to the media about Makhura appearing before the legislature’s oversight committee on the premier’s office and the legislature (Ocpol) to account for the tragedy, and on preceding and subsequent events.

In a media statement, chairperson of the committee and acting convener of the governance cluster, Godfrey Tsotetsi, said: “We condemn the latest gimmick by the DA for deliberately misleading the public on the decision of the Ocpol committee held on Friday, February 3.”

The committee resolved to defer the matter to the next meeting to enable members to interact with the report. “We have noted that the premier is not cited for any involvement, but is directed to implement the recommendations of the health ombudsman.”

The ANC legislature caucus’s statement further stated that the “political posturing” by the DA would not deter Makhura from “doing what’s right” and implementing the ombudsman’s recommendations.