9 Esidimeni patients still missing

17 September 2019

Nine patients who were transferred from Life Esidimeni in 2016 have still not been found by the Gauteng Health Department.

This was revealed today by Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku in an oral reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

Masuku said that files of the patients had been requested from Life Esidimeni, but there were no files for 5 of the 9 missing patients.

Two of the missing patients have ID numbers, but none are registered to receive a SASSA grant. Masuku said that no photographs were available of the remaining patients and some leads were still being followed to find them.

I am pleased that progress has been made in finding more of the patients as 16 patients were missing in March this year.

More than three years have passed since the disastrous transfer of Esidimeni patients to unsuitable NGOs where 144 died in terrible circumstances.

I hope that the fate of the 9 missing patients can be discovered, otherwise they will have to be considered to be further Esidimeni fatalities.

Issued by Jack Bloom, DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC, 17 September 2019