Former Gauteng Health Department official Hannah Jacobus admitted she “did nothing” after she found some NGOs that received patients from Life Esidimeni were understaffed.
Cross-examination of the former Gauteng Health Department official continued virtually in the Pretoria High Court on Thursday. Jacobus, who is now retired, is the sixth witness to be called in the Life Esidimeni inquest.
The inquest, striving to determine what led to 144 mental healthcare users dying after being moved from Life Esidimeni facilities to NGOs in 2016, resumed this week.
Jacobus was in charge of checking NGOs’ readiness to receive mental healthcare patients. Under cross-examination by Advocate Phyllis Vorster, Jacobus told the court she only found out that some staff at NGOs resigned due to non-payment after the transfer of patients took place.
When asked what steps she had taken after finding out the NGOs were understaffed, Jacobus said she did not do anything. I went to [the NGOs] to assist with specific challenges, not to monitor or inspect,” she said.
Source: News365
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