“As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest,” are the words, uttered in 2005 by late president Nelson Mandela, which are etched on London’s Trafalgar Square.
For decades his poignant wisdom has been quoted in school essays, painted on posters during rallies in the pursuit of equality and justice and fired up hope in communities broken down by violence and upheaval.
While tens of thousands soaked up his spirit of ubuntu and his example to embrace transformation in the nation when they celebrated his birthday on Sunday, there are countless others who are disillusioned about the South African dream to put an end to poverty and injustice, 27 years into democracy.
Just ask the families of the Cradock four — Matthew Goniwe, Fort Calata, Sicelo Mhlauli and Sparrow Mkonto — who 36 years ago travelled back from a United Democratic Front (UDF) meeting in Gqeberha on June 27 but never made it home.
On Tuesday, their families, who are still awaiting the prosecution of their killers and who joined the call for an independent commission of inquiry into political interference with the NPA that halted prosecutions of apartheid-era murderers, turned to the courts to force authorities to make a decision about prosecuting those responsible.
Despite two inquests, the case, which also cites former president FW de Klerk, shows that the NPA and police have failed to act on a Truth and Reconciliation hearing directive to pursue prosecutions. The court action comes after the Supreme Court of Appeal last month criticised the NPA for failing to prosecute TRC cases.
There are countless others who are disillusioned about the South African dream to put an end to poverty and injustice, 27 years into democracy.
Or we could ask the family of businessman Shonisani Lethole who, according to the health ombud, received “substandard and negligent” care at Tembisa Hospital last June, leading to his death.
The report found that Lethole was not fed for more than 100 hours and was put in a room near corpses and Covid-19 positive patients.
They have just found out that no disciplinary action will be taken against hospital CEO Dr Lekopane Mogaladi, as his contract ended on January 31 and was not renewed. This despite the report recommending that Mogaladi be charged with among other things his administration’s failure to provide food for Lethole for prolonged periods, and for signing misleading reports to former health MEC Dr Bandile Masuku and the ombud.
Five months after the damning report, details on whether any of the other 19 healthcare professionals implicated by the health ombud’s scathing report will be charged are still sketchy, and delays with finding a mediator have been lagging.
There are other cases.
It is in this context that we hope for accountability and justice to prevail for the families of at least 144 patients with mental health problems who died in shameful and undignified conditions, with the inquest hearing into the Life Esidimeni tragedy which began at the Pretoria high court on Monday. And would it be too much to ask that it will be a swift process, given that it is already five years since that shameful incident?
The timeline of events that started in 2012 with the Gauteng department of health deciding to cut the number of beds and reached a head three years later when the SA Society of Psychiatrists warned the department about the likely consequences of terminating the Life Esidimeni contract, predicting the negative outcomes including loss of lives, is chilling to the bone.
The decision to cut down on beds was, it turns out, made by former Gauteng health MEC Qedani Mahlangu. The health ombud’s report uncovered scathing findings against Mahlangu — who resigned on the eve of the release of the report in 2017 — and two senior officials in the department. She was also asked to step down from the Gauteng ANC’s provincial executive committee, but according to a report in the Sunday Times in May, Mahlangu — who hasn’t been criminally charged in this matter — is expected to make a political comeback.
The unfolding tragedy points to a health and welfare system governed by point-scoring politicians, dysfunctional to the needs of the people it is supposed to serve.
The unfolding tragedy points to a health and welfare system governed by point-scoring politicians, dysfunctional to the needs of the people it is supposed to serve, inaccessible and obscure to advocacy groups and civil society when they raised alarm bells about safety, health and dignity, and unsympathetic to mental health issues.
Over the next month, presiding judge Mmonoa Teffo will hear from at least 30 witnesses who will paint a picture of the dire and squalid conditions in which many developed dehydration, secondary infections such as pneumonia or had uncontrolled seizures, and died; to find out who was responsible for making the decisions that led to this shameful tragedy and ultimately who is liable for the deaths and if anyone should face criminal charges.
As Umunyana Rugege, Section27 executive director, said: “This is a fact-finding mission. It is an important and serious process, and we have faith in it to get to the bottom of the cause of the deaths. Causation is a difficult issue in law. Part of seeking justice is about seeing real accountability.”
And for that, the ball will land squarely in the court of the NPA to decide what criminal charges, if any, will be laid, and who will be charged.
The families may have been compensated but they have suffered enough and their struggle for truth, accountability and closure will only come once justice is served.
SA will not rest and will be watching to ensure that no-one will be spared to further haunt our democracy.
