The inquest into the Life Esidimeni tragedy in which 144 mental health patients died will resume today at the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria.
The matter will commence for closing argument with NGO, Section27, arguing for former Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu, former Director of Mental Health Directorate Dr Makgabo Manamela and the owner of Precious Angels NGO, Ethel Ncube, to be charged with culpable homicide.
They argue that the Gauteng government was warned about the dangers of the relocation to unregistered NGOs, yet the department continued.
Mahlangu said the move was due to budget cuts.
Many of the deaths were as a result of neglect, starvation, and dehydration.
The inquest aims to determine if anyone can be held criminally liable for the deaths in 2016.
Section27 says at least 10 deaths were caused by the conduct of Mahlangu, Manamela and Ncube in which 20 patients died under her care.
Mahlangu, Manamela, and Ncube have denied responsibility and are against Section27’s submission that the judge should recommend culpable homicide prosecution.
Families represented by AfriForum want the judge to recommend that the three be prosecuted for murder.
The video below is reporting more on the story:
