Lebethe to make second appearance at Life Esidimeni Inquest

The former Deputy Director-General of Clinical Services at the Gauteng Department of Health, Dr Richard Lebethe will make a second appearance at the Life Esidimeni Inquest in the Pretoria High Court on Friday morning.

The inquest will hear his evidence into the deaths of 144 mentally-ill patients who were transferred from the Life Esidimeni Center in 2016.

On Thursday, Lebete testified about his initial visits to various NGOs prior to and after the transfer of patients. According to Lebethe, some facilities were not in good condition to accommodate psychiatric patients.

“About the area not being appropriate. The area was in an mountainous area. It’s an elevated area with some having lots of stairs, if you need to go into the house. So it was not as much as the question of the types of beds that they were using – it was the type of area and the layout in terms of height and the stairs for the type of patients that were there and that’s the one that’s in Atteridgeville.”

Yesterday Life Esidimeni inquest heard evidence from a former senior nurse