Life Esidimeni Inquest: Sister tells of man’s gruesome death in Life Esidimeni tragedy
1 March 2022
Sandra de Villiers, the sister of Jaco Stols, one of the 144 victims of the infamous Life Esidimeni-tragedy, today (28 February) during the formal inquest into the death of various patients testified that Stols vomited continuously for four weeks, which led to him dying of hunger and thirst at the age of 51. She also testified that there were inexplicable marks on his body and that reports indicated that he was crying himself to sleep at night without his caretakers reporting this to his loved-ones.
AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit and Solidarity Helping Hand represent De Villiers in this inquest. Advocate Phyllis Vorster, Prosecutor at the Private Prosecution Unit, has been appointed as a watching brief to assist De Villiers.
The suffering of Stols, an intellectually disabled man, has the brain capacity of a nine year old child, during the last few weeks of his life was today heard in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. The inquest court must determine the following: The identity of the deceased, the cause and date of death, and whether the death was caused by an action amounting to an offence by any person. De Villiers is the 14th witness that has been called to testify.
At times, she became emotional when she testified how her brother wasted away before her eyes since he had been transferred from the Cullinan Care and Rehabilitation Centre (CCRC) to the new Siyabadinga-centre in Cullinan on 9 May 2016 as part of the Life Esidimeni money saving scheme. She testified how her brother was so hungry and thirsty during one of her visits that he drank a litre of cooldrink at once and that he ate his food so quickly that he almost swallowed the serviette as well. The court heard how Siyabadinga had to close its doors on 8 July 2016 since it was being operated without the necessary permits. Stols was therefore retransferred to CCRC on 19 July 2016.