JOHANNESBURG - A journey marked by waiting, uncertainty, and the constant reliving of pain.
This is how the past ten years have unfolded for Christine Nxumalo of the Life Esidimeni Family Committee.
Her sister, Virginia Machpelah, was among the 141 psychiatric patients who died after being unlawfully removed from the Life Esidimeni facility between 2015 and 2016.
The patients were transferred to ill-equipped and unlicensed NGOs, where they were subjected to neglect, starvation, and a lack of medication.
READ | NPA to prosecute key players in Life Esidimeni tragedy
On Monday, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) confirmed it has found sufficient grounds to institute criminal prosecutions against key individuals involved in the Life Esidimeni tragedy.
The charges are expected to include culpable homicide, among others, against those deemed responsible for the unlawful and negligent actions that led to the deaths, the NPA said in a statement.
The authority described the decision as a critical step toward accountability and justice for the families.
She said she cannot believe they have finally reached this point.
“It has been a long road. We have been fighting for almost 10 years and the inquest judgement came out two years ago so it has been a long period of period of waiting for us to go to court.
While the development brings some relief, there is still concern about whether the court process will deliver justice.
“We are sceptical. Is something going to go wrong, will we go to court and get pulled back again? This has been the story of our lives, really,” Nxumalo added.
Nxumalo’s sister had been in the facility for more than two years.
She said that in January 2016, families were called to a public meeting where they were told the facility would be closed.
This, she said, was unacceptable, as their loved ones still required specialised care.
Before families could respond, patients were moved.
“We looked for her for almost two months and could not find her,” she said.
Their search ended in tragedy when they were contacted by Precious Angels, an NGO in Pretoria at the centre of the Life Esidimeni tragedy, informing them that her sister had died.
READ | Discussion | Life Esidimeni Tragedy | Portraits of lives lost
According to Nxumalo, post-mortems were conducted, but families were allegedly denied access to the results.
It was only years later, during the inquest, that the truth began to emerge.
“She was not given food. She was not given water; she had no food in her system.
"It was only then, when the inquest was granted, that we finally knew the truth about what really happened,” Nxumalo detailed.
The inquest found that former Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu and former HOD Makgabo Manamela were negligent and contributed to some of the deaths.
In her 2024 judgment, Pretoria High Court Judge Mmonoa Teffo found that Mahlangu ignored expert advice and warnings from mental health professionals when she terminated the contract.
Teffo also found that Manamela failed to properly oversee and report on the conditions at the NGOs where patients were placed.
READ | Life Esidimeni tragedy | Families want Mahlangu, Manamela behind bars
Nxumalo said the possibility of those implicated appearing in court means they may finally be held accountable.
“The way they died was horrible; nobody should die like that, let alone the vulnerable,” she said.