A warrant of arrest and a medical certificate were sought after suspended director of mental health services in Gauteng Dr Makgabo Manamela failed to appear before the Life Esidimeni arbitration tribunal in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
Manamela called in sick and could not continue with the testimony that she started on Monday.
She fell ill after Monday's proceedings in which she contradicted herself on the witness stand while being grilled about the transfer of mentally ill patients from Life Esidimeni to NGOs around Gauteng.
Manamela was in charge of the project to transfer more than 100 mentally ill patients to some unlicensed NGOs in the province. The move resulted in the death of at least 143 patients.
The tribunal‚ headed by retired deputy chief justice Dikgang Moseneke‚ heard that Manamela took ill on Monday evening.
"At first she thought she was just tired. They say joy comes in the morning. She thought she would feel better in the morning‚" said Manamela's lawyer‚ Lerato Mashilane.
He said Manamela would be able to continue with her testimony on Thursday.
"Is it the doctor's recommendation that she can only testify on Thursday?" asked Moseneke. Mashilane said that was the case.
He said a medical certificate would be presented to the arbitration tribunal before the end of business on Tuesday.
Lawyers representing the families of the victims demanded that a warrant of arrest be issued because they were not presented with proof that she was sick.
Advocate Adila Hassim‚ who represents families on behalf of Section27‚ said the families were taking strain due to Manamela's failure to attend the proceedings.
"It is causing distress. They feel disrespected‚" she said.
Moseneke ordered that a warrant of arrest - suspended until Thursday - be granted.
Lawyers who represented section 27 are expected to secure the warrant.
Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package. 
