94 dead: Gauteng Health MEC resigns following damning ombudsman report
Qedani Mahlangu has resigned as MEC of health in Gauteng, following a damning report by the health ombudsman that found 94 mentally ill patients had died in Gauteng as a result of her neglect.
Gauteng’s health department had chosen to move the patients after saying that it had spent R323 million on the treatment of nearly 2,400 patients in 2014 and 2015 and that the government could no longer afford this.
Health ombudsman Malegapuru Makgoba on Wednesday (1 February) said that Mahlanghu had lost credibility and her actions and those of two senior officials were “chaotic, hurried, in a rush and a total shambles”.
Makgoba’s investigation uncovered that 94 mentally ill patients had died between 23 March and 19 December 2016. He noted that the number could be much higher, however, as many families had not been informed about the deaths of their relatives.
He also noted that all of the 27 NGOs where the deaths occurred did not have valid licenses nor “the basic competence and experience, the leadership/managerial capacity nor ‘fitness for purpose’ and were often poorly resourced” to look after the patients.
Speaking at the media briefing of the health ombudsman’s report, Gauteng premier David Makhura indicated that Mahlangu could still face criminal charges for her negligence and that a replacement could be established as early as next week.
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