It is facing a debt crisis and has no plan on how payments will be made, but the Gauteng health department is going ahead with a dispute resolution process with the families affected by the Life Esidimeni scandal. On Tuesday retired judge Dikgang Moseneke, who will preside over the public hearings, said participants would present documentary and oral testimony of their experiences of the cost-cutting exercise turned fatal disaster. The dispute resolution process was one of the recommendations made by the health ombudsman in his February report titled "No Guns: 94+ silent deaths and counting". The state, represented by Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi and Gauteng Premier David Makhura, has conceded unconditionally that the conduct of its employees and functionaries had unlawfully and negligently caused the deaths of the more than 100 mentally ill patients. Based on this premise, the parties chose arbitration as the method of resolving the dispute, seeking equitable redress that inclu...

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