No executive decision to cut health costs, says Makhura

Makhura was testifying on the deliberations of the premier’s budget committee (PBC) meetings and subsequent steps taken after it was first announced the former Esidimeni patients had died on Wednesday.

The inquest is probing the deaths of 144 mentally ill patients.

In 2016 the Gauteng government moved about 1,500 psychiatric patients from the licensed Life Esidimeni facility to 27 unlicensed NGOs.

Former Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu has implicated Creecy and then premier David Makhura, saying they were behind the decision to move the patients.

During her cross-examination at the inquest, Mahlangu said Creecy and Makhura made the decision to end the Life Esidimeni contract in order to save over R300 million the department was spending on the project.

"The PBC would be in no position to take a decision on a contract, it is not something that the PBC has authority on and that's very clear,” Makhura said on Wednesday.

“We have always been clear and I believe even my predecessors know that it has always been clear that the PBC doesn't make decisions on the contracts or procurements because that is regulated by the PMFA. I am not aware at any period that the PBC would have taken any decision on a contract it would be completely unlawful.”

Makhura said he was told there was nothing unusual about the number of patients that died annually prior to 2016.

“The officials made a presentation. What they basically did was tell me over the past five years how many mental health patients have died. I was shocked that in some years we would have 30 and in other years close to 40. They said this is a trend that has been going on for the past few years.

“According to them, the passing of mental health patients in the NGOs was not unusual; it was normal.

“I issued a statement afterwards. In the statement, I dealt with this part of the deaths. I probed them on how they ended up in the NGOs,” said Makhura.

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