The Life Esidimeni tragedy is without doubt one of the worst human rights abuses of post-apartheid SA. At least 144 people lost their lives in the shambolic, degrading and dehumanising transfer of more than 1,700 state mental patients from the safety of a well-established private healthcare provider to unlicensed and ill-equipped nongovernmental organisations that deprived them of their most basic human rights. The move was so chaotic that records were mislaid, patients were loaded on to trucks like animals, and officials lost track of where they were. To this day, 44 patients are still missing. Harrowing testimony from officials and their families during the arbitration process that followed an investigation by the health ombudsman revealed how patients were deprived of food and water, vital medication and warm clothing. They died of starvation, neglect and ignorance at the hands of unqualified and callous personnel. As retired deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke so forcefully pu...
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