Life Esidimeni Archives

Media Statements

PRESS STATEMENT | SECTION27 and the Life Esidimeni Families welcome the NPA’s decision to prosecute in the deaths of 141 mental healthcare users

SECTION27, together with the Life Esidimeni families, welcome the National Prosecuting Authority’s decision to prosecute individuals implicated in the Life Esidimeni tragedy. This decision marks a significant step towards justice and accountability for 141 mental healthcare users who died between 2015 and 2016 following their unlawful transfer from mental health Continue Reading

By Hloni, 4 months4 months ago

South Africa’s Life Esidimeni Disaster and the Institutional Corruption That Opened the Door to It

In mid-2015, the Gauteng Department of Health in South Africa canceled a contract with Life Esidimeni, a subsidiary of a large hospital group that ran four facilities housing almost 2,000 people with mental illnesses. The termination of the contract and the chaotic transfers of people that followed resulted in enormous Continue Reading

By Hloni, 6 months6 months ago

Opinion Pieces

OP-ED | Life Esidimeni: The NPA has the evidence, now it must do its job

PUBLISHED BY: Sunday Times WRITTEN BY: Sasha Stevenson On August 15 2016, Virginia Machpelah died. She was 50 years old. She was 1.5m tall and at the time of her death she weighed 35kg. Her body was emaciated and dehydrated, with gangrene on both feet. The details of Machpelah’s death Continue Reading

By Hloni, 11 months11 months ago

Media Statements

PRESS STATEMENT | Life Esidimeni Families on the NPA’s Ongoing Delay in Prosecution Decision

19 August 2025, Johannesburg – SECTION27 welcomes an indication from the NPA, in a meeting yesterday with families, that they are moving towards a decision on prosecution in the Life Esidimeni matter. We are, however, concerned with the extensive delays by the NPA, even in the face of the inquest decision Continue Reading

By Hloni, 1 year1 year ago

Media Statements

PRESS STATEMENT | Life Esidimeni one year on – justice delayed is justice denied

10 July 2025, Johannesburg – 10 July 2025 marks exactly one year since Judge Mmonoa Teffo handed down the Life Esidimeni Inquest judgment. The inquest found that the conduct of Ms Qedani Mahlangu (the former Gauteng Health MEC) and Dr. Makgabo Manamela (the former Director of Mental Health in Gauteng) Continue Reading

By Hloni, 1 year1 year ago

Media Statements

PRESS STATEMENT | Life Esidimeni families and allies, call on NPA to pursue criminal charges ahead of Mental Health Boards meeting

27 May 2025, Johannesburg – On 28 and 29 May 2025, the National Department of Health will convene a national Mental Health Review Boards Meeting to discuss Human Rights in Mental Health, roles and functions of Mental Health Review Boards, optimal functioning and key procedures. This meeting takes place over 6 Continue Reading

By Hloni, 1 year1 year ago

Media Statements

MEMORANDUM OF DEMAND FOR JUSTICE AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR LIFE ESIDIMENI VICTIMS

As we mark October as Mental Health Awareness Month, we are reminded of the critical need for justice for the victims of the Life Esidimeni tragedy. The events that unfolded have, over nearly a decade, highlighted the rights of individuals with mental health conditions and underscored the government’s responsibility to Continue Reading

By Hloni, 2 years2 years ago

Media Statements

Life Esidimeni Families to stage a picket urging the NPA to pursue criminal charges

On 29 October 2024, marking the end of Mental Health Awareness month, the Life Esidimeni families will be joined by members of the disability sector, the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG), SECTION27 and other interested parties, in a picket to hand over a memorandum to the National Prosecuting Continue Reading

By Hloni, 2 years2 years ago

Latest News

Ms Mahlangu and Dr Manamela “both created the circumstances in which the deaths were inevitable”

10 July 2024, Johannesburg – SECTION27 welcomes the judgment in the Life Esidimeni Inquest by Judge Mmonoa Teffo of the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria. In the oral summary of her judgment, Judge Teffo stated that former Gauteng Health MEC, Qedani Mahlangu, and the former Director of the Mental Health Directorate in Continue Reading

By Section27 - Aneesa, 2 years2 years ago

Latest News

Much-anticipated judgment in Life Esidimeni Inquest to be delivered on 10 July 2024

26 June 2024, Johannesburg – The judgment in the Life Esidimeni inquest is set be delivered on Wednesday, 10 July 2024 by Judge Mmonoa Teffo of the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria. At the inquest, SECTION27 argued that the former Gauteng Health MEC, Qedani Mahlangu, the former Director of Mental Health Directorate, Dr Makgabo Continue Reading

By Section27 - Aneesa, 2 years2 years ago

Latest News

SECTION27 argues for culpable homicide charges against Qedani Mahlangu, Makgabo Manamela and Ethel Ncube for Life Esidimeni deaths

23 October 2023, Johannesburg – The Life Esidimeni Inquest will resume on 26 October 2023, at the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria where SECTION27 will argue that the former Gauteng Health MEC, Qedani Mahlangu, the former Director of Mental Health Directorate, Dr Makgabo Manamela and the owner of Precious Angels Continue Reading

By Section27, 3 years ago

Right to Access Healthcare

SECTION27 Life Esidimeni heads of arguement

UPDATE: 26 June 2024, Johannesburg – The judgment in the Life Esidimeni inquest is set be delivered on Wednesday, 10 July 2024 by Judge Mmonoa Teffo of the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria. The Life Esidimeni Inquest resumed on 26 October 2023, at the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria where SECTION27 argued Continue Reading

By Section27, 3 years2 years ago

WDA