The department confirmed that Selebano and Jacobus had retired and received their full pension payments.
Jacobus worked at the department until her retirement. The then MEC for health, Qedani Mahlangu, Selebano and Manamela all resigned in 2017, around the time that the health ombudsman, Professor Malegapuru Makgoba, released his report in which he recommended that those he called the “architects” of the tragedy and everyone involved in it be suspended.
Qedani Mahlangu, former MEC for health in Gauteng. Photo: Collen Mashaba
“Quick action against such employees is important for government. That’s why we’re currently working on the process,” said SANC CEO Sizeni Mchunu in response to City Press’ query.
The inquest into the deaths of 144 mental healthcare users who were moved out of Life Esidimeni by the Gauteng government in 2015 and 2016 will begin in the North Gauteng high court on 19 July 2021, the NPA announced on Monday.
Relatives of the patients hope the inquest, which will determine causes of death, will finally lead to criminal prosecutions.
No one has been criminally charged for the deaths despite former deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke’s arbitration award finding that the Gauteng health department’s decision to move the patients stemmed “from the arrogant and irrational use of public power”.
Witnesses at the arbitration testified that patients were sent to under-resourced and ill-equipped NGOs that lacked the ability to provide basic care or, in some cases, even feed the mental healthcare users.