WHERE ARE THE MISSING 59 ESIDIMENI PATIENTS?

I have been following the Esidimeni arbitration hearings with dismay and sadness at what was endured by those who died and the unresolved suffering of relatives.

My concern is that no new information has come to light about the 59 untraced people who were discharged from Life Esidimeni‚ and are still drawing pension or disability grants.

This was revealed by Precious Matsodo, Director General of the National Department of Health, when she testified on 12 October.

They could be alive in good or bad circumstances, or they could be dead and NGOs and others could be using their money‚ without reporting them as deceased.

Matsodo also said that there were seven corpses that have not been identified and their families traced.

How can it be that there are still so many untraced and unidentified patients who were discharged from Esidimeni last year? 

The Gauteng Health Department has been silent on what it is doing to trace and identify these patients.

We need to know what the Department is doing so that all the 1712 discharged Esidimeni patients are accounted for.

Statement issued by Jack Bloom MPL, DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC, 4 December 2017