State failure shall not be framed as NGO failure: The anatomy of a healthcare atrocity in South Africa
By Péter MARTON Have you heard of the Life Esidimeni healthcare scandal before? In a nutshell: There is pressure now on the managers of several South African NGOs to account for the deaths of psychiatric patients in their care after as many as 75 patients died in the facilities of five of these organisations between March 23 and December 19, 2016, in Gauteng Province (population: 12.2 million). A total of 141 deaths (including at hospitals) are being investigated. So who is responsible for these deaths? South African Health Ombudsman Dr. Malegapuru Makgoba named five NGOs "the most dangerous" related to the cases concerned. These are Precious Angels, CCRC/Siyadabinga/Anchor, Mosego/Takalani, Tshepong, and Hephzibah (see page 1 of this government report for the list and more). These and 22 other NGOs took over mental patients from Life Esidimeni, the healthcare contractor that provided services up to 2015 for the Department of Health in Gauteng province. The Depart...