Gauteng health department officials could be criminally charged with culpable homicide for their roles in the Life Esidimeni scandal, says David McQuoid-Mason, a law professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Centre for Socio-Legal Studies.
He believes former Gauteng health MEC Qedani Mahlangu, her former head of department, Barney Selebano, and the mental health services director, Makgoba Manamela, could be convicted of culpable homicide if prosecutors can prove their negligence caused the deaths of at least 144 patients and that these deaths were illegal. McQuoid-Mason was speaking at a lecture hosted by the University of the Witwatersrand Steve Biko Centre for Bioethics last week. ….more