Missing Esidimeni patients will be found, says Gwen Ramokgopa
21 mentally ill patients are still unaccounted for after being moved to unlicensed NGOs
Gauteng health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa says the search will continue for 21 mentally ill patients who went missing after being relocated from Life Esidimeni to unregistered NGOs. Ramokgopa said in a statement on Tuesday that “no stone would be left unturned in accounting for the unaccounted [sic] mental health patients”. She called on the public to assist the police in tracing the patients. “Despite working with various state departments and law enforcement agencies‚ the department is determined to make headway in accounting for the remaining 21 discharged patients from Life Esidimeni between 2015 [and] 2016‚” said Ramokgopa. More than 140 patients died following the move to ill-equipped and unlicensed NGOs in the province. Ramakgopa said the department had managed to transfer 750 patients from the unlicensed NGOs. “However, the difficulties in finding the 21 patients are due to poor record-keeping during the project, which left the department with very little, and unverified, informatio...
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