Esidimeni inquest findings due on July 10

Judgment in the Life Esidimeni inquest is set to be delivered by the high court in Pretoria on July 10.

Section 27 said this is an amendment to the previously communicated date of Friday.

The purpose of the inquest was for the court to determine the cause of the deaths of 141 patients who died after 1,711 mentally ill people were transferred from Life Esidimeni facilities in 2015 and 2016 to ill-prepared non-governmental organisations. 

The court is also tasked with determining whether the conduct of any individual directly caused or contributed to the deaths.

Section27, which represented some patients' families, said the National Prosecuting Authority will decide whether to pursue criminal prosecution after the inquest judgment.

In 2018‚ retired deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke headed an arbitration hearing at which he found the rights of mentally ill patients and their families were flagrantly violated and disregarded.

Moseneke said more than 1,400 patients had survived “torturous conditions”. Some had been transported on the back of trucks like cattle‚ others did not get medication and some appeared to have starved to death.

He ruled the families should each receive payments of R20,000 for funeral expenses‚ R180,000 for shock and psychological trauma and R1m in constitutional damages.

A 2017 report by then health ombud Malegapuru Makgoba recommended government officials should face disciplinary hearings, apologise to the families and de-establish the programme.