LISTEN | Family demands justice for deceased sister after ombud report

The family of a mental healthcare patient who died after a fire broke out in the psychiatric unit atGeorge Mukhari Academic Hospital say they want those responsible for her death to be arrested and put in jail. This comes after the health ombud on Monday revealed the findings of an investigation intoLerato Mohlamme’sdeath, including that her alleged sexual assault was not properly assessed or reported to law enforcement by the hospital. Speaking to Sowetan,Mohlamme‘s sister Molebogeng said they took her to a place they thought was safe and would help her, but they were wrong.

As a result, she said, they can’t heal fully until they see those responsible for the 35-year-old woman’s June 2024 death behind bars. “I’m very hurt. Imagine my sister died because of delays in food, without medication, without water.

According to Molebogeng, her sister was put in an isolation ward and no-one checked on her. “So it’s very devastating … One can’t heal from it because we took her to the hospital, thinking that it was the safest place for her to go, but unfortunately, we were wrong.

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George Mukhari was not a safe place for her. We just want justice. That’s all,” she said.

Molebogeng added that they are still going through the findings before taking the necessary steps. “As a family, we are still busy. Remember, we got the findings today, so we’re going to get back to them.

We’re going to call the ombud and explain what’s taking place, and we’ll see, but we cannot just let it go. There’s no way. We want someone to be held responsible; there must be people who go to jail.

So all those people who are involved must also face the pain that we have faced. They might be charged,” she said. Gauteng premierPanyaza Lesufisaid they would take full responsibility for any wrongdoings flagged by the ombud. “So we deeply regret and take full responsibility for the errors that have been identified by the office of the ombud, especially regarding the rights of mental healthcare users in our institution, including the inappropriate use of punitive practices, inadequate infrastructure, inadequate staffing and insufficient staff knowledge in terms of mental healthcare needs,” he said.

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