MHM Magazine

Issue 3 | 2024 | MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS | 27 MHM patients with severe mental illnesses into ill-equipped NGOs. I don’t know if it was the nerves or the fact that I just found out the night before that I was pregnant with my second child – but I felt sick as I watched us lose the case due to a technicality of the word “discharged” and “transferred”. A few weeks later, after the patients were moved– the first death was reported at Takalani. The last eight years have been a real rollercoaster of emotions. I have felt incredibly frustrated and helpless as I witnessed the unravelling of a flawed plan that jeopardized the lives of the most vulnerable members of our society. At other times I felt this surge of determination to expose the injustice. On a daily basis I was speaking to families who were desperate and anxious. I dried their tears and comforted them in their grief. I marched alongside them at protests. Together with my team at SADAG we phoned hospital and mortuaries to try find loved ones who were missing, hoping with every fibre of my being that they wouldn’t confirm someone’s body was indeed there. I met families in their homes, on the streets, around boardroom tables and late at night during counselling calls. The family WhatsApp group helped us coordinate the searches, communicate and support each other. But the deaths kept coming and the grief was often overwhelming. Grief for the lives lost, families shattered, and for the betrayal of trust in the very institutions and officials who were meant to safeguard the vulnerable. We, as advocates, had to face the stark reality that our efforts were not enough to prevent this catastrophe. We were constantly fighting and raising concerns, and yet it fell on deaf ears. At times I would get tired and feel burnt out. And when I hit a brick wall, I could hand the baton over to our partners SECTION27, who would then tackle the legal letters and statements and turn them into key records that would later be used in the Arbitration. We took turns and stepped in when the other couldn’t. I remember the Ombuds Report and sitting through the Arbitration. The emotional toll was immeasurable as we bore witness to the pain etched on the faces of those left behind. The inadequacy of the mental health care system was laid bare, and the callousness of individual officials often unbearable to listen to. But our anger fuelled our determination to hold those responsible accountable, to ensure that such a travesty would never be repeated. Processing trauma is a strange thing. It's like navigating through a maze of emotions, that often feel overwhelming. Sometimes it's a slow, gentle unravelling of pain, while other times it's a sudden rush of emotions that catch you off guard. I drew strength and motivation from the immense resilience of the Life Esidimeni Family Committee and members. I remember one story of a mother who would wake up at 4am on a Sunday morning just to have enough time to prepare a home-cooked meal and then travel four hours to get to her daughter who was in a mental health facility. She wanted to be with her daughter during lunch time. Then she would make the long journey back home to arrive in the dark. All this using the small pension she got every month to pay for the taxis. But these Sundays were her favourite day when she could see her daughter. But she could only afford to do this once a month. The fight for mental health cannot be abandoned. We have to continue to advocate for those without a voice, for those living with severe mental illness. The Life Esidimeni tragedy, though marred by pain and suffering, has become a catalyst for that change. #NeverForget Life Esidimeni Portrait Photographs © Mark Lewis Life Esidimeni: Portraits of Lives Lost Harriet Perlman & Mark Lewis When writer Harriet Perlman and photographer Mark Lewis set about docu- menting the lives of the families whose loved ones had been so horribly killed in the Life Esidimeni tragedy, they were determined to honour the dead, and to recognise the sufferings of those left behind. They embarked on a journey across South Africa, meeting face-to-face with families grappling with the unimaginable loss of loved ones. Their heart-breaking stories, accompanied by powerful photographs, forge a deep connection with the victims. These portraits are not just faces on a page, but a testament to the human cost of this tragedy. “We need everyone in this country to see and hear this story. We must put it out there so people understand what happened, how it happened and why. Or will we just forget and learn nothing? I lost my sister in the tragedy and some mornings I still can’t get up. It’s the manner in which she died that makes it so hard to bear. We all just want answers. We must continue to speak out.” CHRISTINE NXUMALO – LIFE ESIDIMENI FAMILY COMMITTEE This is a harrowing account of the death, torture and disappearance of utterly vulnerable mental health care users in the care of an admittedly delinquent provincial government. It is also a story of the searing and public anguish of the families of the affected health-care users and of the collective shock and pain of many other caring people in our land and elsewhere in the world.” FORMER DEPUTY CHIEF JUSTICE DIKGANG MOSENEKE – LIFE ESIDIMENI ARBITRATION Books will be available for pre-sale via https://jacana.co.za/product/life-esidimeni/, and will be available in leading bookstores by 22 August 2024. MHM | 2024 | Volume 11 | Issue 3 | A Journey of Justice: Reflections from the Life Esidimeni Inquest MHM