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The South African Communist Party in Gauteng Province applauds the outcomes of the Life Esidimeni Tribunal and Alternative Dispute Resolution Process and further welcomes the Redress Award for the families of the victims of the tragedy.

We congratulate retired Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke for concluding the process and handing over his report to government. We strongly believe this report is a crucial step in getting to the bottom of what happened during the removal of mentally ill patients from Life Esidimeni to Non-Governmental Organisations.

The outcome of the report by the Health Ombudsman, Professor Malegapuru Makgoba and that of Chief Justice Moseneke confirm the need for the Provincial Alliance Health Summit which will give the revolutionary Alliance of the ANC, SACP, COSATU and SANCO the opportunity to get to the bottom and root-cause of the problem.

We believe that although a life can never be replaced, the ordering of government to pay for funeral expenses, shock and physical trauma and constitutional damages will go a long way in helping the affected families to find closure.

We call on government to pay the Redress Award to the families without any delay.
We also call for law to take its natural cause in cases of criminal liability.
We further welcome and support the commitment by the provincial government under the leadership of Premier comrade David Makhura to continue working with the families in ensuring that recommendations from the arbitration process are implemented within set timelines.

Issued by the SACP Gauteng province