Gauteng head of mental health quits
Dr Makgabo Manamela was part of the management team implicated in the Life Esidimeni tragedy
Yet another senior Gauteng health department official implicated in the Life Esidimeni tragedy has resigned. The department’s head of mental health, Dr Makgabo Manamela, who was described as evasive and arrogant during her testimony at the independent ad hoc tribunal chaired by former deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke, resigned on Wednesday. Her resignation came in the wake of that of head of the department Dr Barney Selebano on Tuesday. The two were part of the management team that decided to relocate hundreds of mentally ill patients from Esidimeni to unregistered nongovernmental organisations, where they were subjected to inhumane conditions that could ultimately have led to their deaths. In November, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said Manamela should be reported to the South African Nursing Council for ethical misconduct over her role in the tragedy. The families of the 143 patients who died have called for criminal charges to be brought against all officials, including t...
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