‘I cried when I was appointed health MEC’: Qedani Mahlangu at Life Esidimeni inquest

Qedani Mahlangu said she broke down and cried when she was appointed Gauteng health MEC in 2014, saying she knew she would be entering the “lion’s den”.

Mahlangu testified before a virtual Pretoria high court on Tuesday at the inquest into the deaths of the Life Esidimeni patients.

She started her testimony by detailing how she had first served as the MEC of health in 2009, which included oversight of the community safety department.

During that time, she found the department in financial disarray as they had an adverse audit finding. Her mission was to turn that around. However, she vacated the position in November 2010.

Then in 2014, former Gauteng premier David Makhura chose her for the health MEC seat again.

“When he came to me, he said, ‘I am appointing you as MEC for health,’ and I broke down. I said to him that this is not fair. He said, ‘You need to sort out the finances, and you are not leaving the health department until the finances are sorted,’ and I cried.”

She said she was consoled by former transport MEC Ismail Vadi and former community safety MEC Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane, who told her they would support her.

“I was very uncomfortable because I knew, through the executive council, that things went from the frying pan into the fire in terms of finances.”

After being sworn in, she said, “I went home and I cried because I knew I was going into the lion’s den.

“I asked myself a lot of questions that weekend, but I said I will go and give it a try,” she told the court.

The former MEC is among former senior health officials expected to account for the tragedy that claimed the lives of 144 mental health patients when they were transferred to ill-equipped NGOs from the Life Esidimeni facility.

The inquest is to determine if there is any criminal liability in regard to the deaths.

Postmortem reports of the deceased mental health patients found that some had plastic in their stomachs, apparently from consuming it out of desperation and hunger.

The hearing continues.