No sense of Batho Pele in the silent death of 94

When those who can’t be outraged for themselves are treated shabbily, to the point of losing their lives, our collective soul as a society is in trouble.

Bettie Molefe the mother of the late Sophie Molefe, is seen becoming emotional during a press briefing, 1 February 2017, at the Medical Research Council building, Pretoria. Picture: Jacques Nelles

The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members.”

Mahatma Gandhi said these words ages ago.

Nelson Mandela and Jimmy Carter paraphrased him a few decades later, but the essence of what they said stayed the same: To measure the true progress of civilisation in any society, watch how that society treats those who cannot do anything for themselves: the children, the aged, the sick, the mentally handicapped and the poor. That’s where the true soul of a society resides.

The Gauteng health department had a long-standing agreement for Life Esidimeni to take care of the most severely afflicted mental health patients in the province.

This institution had the staff and resources necessary to look after those vulnerable members of our society who cannot be looked after by family or other hospitals because of their need for specialised care.

But then the Gauteng health department decided it could save itself R208 per day by moving these patients from Life Esidimeni to a myriad of poorly equipped facilities across the province, against the advice of several nongovernmental organisations that pleaded with government to reconsider this cost-cutting measure.

The province’s health MEC, Qedani Mahlangu, and her advisers decided that the cost savings could not wait. And the impatience was disastrous – fatal in fact.

The national government has always prided itself on a policy that puts “people first”. In fact, every home affairs department and most municipalities have that mission statement plastered on their walls to remind you and I that their first objective when they open their doors every day is to put you and I first.

That mission statement cannot really be put to the test because it is not measurable. Batho Pele, or “people first”, is just a fuzzy affirmation until a decision has to be made between putting a system first or a person first.

The Gauteng health department, when faced with the decision to save the government money or ensure that severely afflicted mental health patients receive the best care available, made the choice to save money – and 94 people lost their lives.

The health ombudsman found that the decision to move the 1 900 patients from Life Esidimeni resulted in the deaths of at least 94 of them. Most people might be missing the point here: these people did not die from mental health issues or as a result of the problems they were admitted for.

They died from dehydration and other ailments not in the least related to mental health. The new institutions to which they were moved didn’t have the skills or systems to take care of them in the same way they were being looked after at Life Esidimeni. The actions of the MEC and her department were a direct cause of their deaths.

If you as a citizen are not repulsed by the actions of those in charge of these most vulnerable members of our society, if you are not outraged at the callous actions of our elected officials, then the words of Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi are wasted on you.

When those who can’t be outraged for themselves are treated shabbily, to the point of losing their lives, our collective soul as a society is in trouble. We have a collective responsibility to shelter our most vulnerable. Otherwise, we are just as complicit in their deaths. We elected the officials who made these callous decisions.