"Sometimes there are occasions where you expect him to be there... and that feeling takes you back to what happened to him – just like today. I am not well. I feel pain and it came out from nowhere," she said.
"It is just a terrible day, I feel like I am in a closed place and I can't free myself," the woman from Tsakane on the East Rand said.
Christine Nxumalo's sister Virginia Machpelah was relocated to Precious Angels where she later died. According to Nxumalo, her sister was her "everything".
"She was our big sister and assumed the role of being a mom when our mother died. She was our go-to person ... she was my sister and my mom at the same time. You couldn't separate the two roles. If there were certain decisions that I needed to know I would run it by her first, get her opinion."
Nxumalo said her sister had a daughter who died a day after her 21st birthday in 2017.
"According to the doctor, it was broken heart." Nxumalo said.
"For me I just think it was a planned murder [what happened to her sister] so to speak. You can't ignore all the specialists and then people die so horribly. We will settle for culpable homicide but that is not what we want."
Suzanne Phoshoko lost her 28-year-old nephew Terence Chaba.
"We are not okay today. He needed care and ended up in this situation that we find ourselves in. He needed professional care because he had epilepsy and cerebral palsy, he was a person who had mood swings and could not be controlled. He lived on medication and stayed at Epilepsy SA for four to five years there.
'This day brings back unbearable painful memories'
Former health bosses culpable of 144 deaths
Image: SUPPLIED
The families of some of the mental health patients who died after being relocated from Life Esidimeni to various unlicensed and ill-prepared NGOs said the judgment in the Life Esidimeni inquest brought back painful memories.
Yesterday judge Mmonoa Teffo said in her judgment that former Gauteng health MEC Qedani Mahlangu and former Gauteng mental health head, Dr [Makgabo] Manamela, had ignored expert advice, something that led to the deaths of 144 patients.
“Having heard all the evidence in this inquest, I have come to the conclusion that the death of the deceased were due to negligence caused by the conduct of Miss Mahlangu and Dr Manamela."
Speaking to Sowetan on Wednesday, Jabulile Hlatshwayo, who lost her son Sizwe Thabang Hlatshwayo, said the pain was unbearable.
Sizwe was transferred from Life Esidimeni to Anchor NGO in 2016. He was among the 144 patients who died after being relocated to various NGOs across Gauteng.
Sizwe died in September 2016, two months before his 29th birthday.
"Life without my son is painful. Today [Wednesday] I just feel pain that came from nowhere.
Image: SUPPLIED
"Sometimes there are occasions where you expect him to be there... and that feeling takes you back to what happened to him – just like today. I am not well. I feel pain and it came out from nowhere," she said.
"It is just a terrible day, I feel like I am in a closed place and I can't free myself," the woman from Tsakane on the East Rand said.
Christine Nxumalo's sister Virginia Machpelah was relocated to Precious Angels where she later died. According to Nxumalo, her sister was her "everything".
"She was our big sister and assumed the role of being a mom when our mother died. She was our go-to person ... she was my sister and my mom at the same time. You couldn't separate the two roles. If there were certain decisions that I needed to know I would run it by her first, get her opinion."
Nxumalo said her sister had a daughter who died a day after her 21st birthday in 2017.
"According to the doctor, it was broken heart." Nxumalo said.
"For me I just think it was a planned murder [what happened to her sister] so to speak. You can't ignore all the specialists and then people die so horribly. We will settle for culpable homicide but that is not what we want."
Suzanne Phoshoko lost her 28-year-old nephew Terence Chaba.
"We are not okay today. He needed care and ended up in this situation that we find ourselves in. He needed professional care because he had epilepsy and cerebral palsy, he was a person who had mood swings and could not be controlled. He lived on medication and stayed at Epilepsy SA for four to five years there.
Judgment on Life Esidimeni inquest expected on Wednesday afternoon
"He had stabbed one of the patients with a knife and then they removed him from there. We sent him to the Salvation Army in Randfontein, and he made mistakes there until he ended up at Life Esidimeni in Randfontein until this happened."
Phoshoko said Chaba was transferred to Precious Angels where he died.
"We are not well. He had a room in the house. He was part of us. We are very emotional. People don't care about people's lives. Everything was fine at Life Esidimeni Randfontein, until what happened ... nobody contacted us to tell us that we should fetch our loved ones.
"They took the decisions without consulting the families.
"That is what is killing me. I just don't understand at the moment ... if we could only turn back the clock, things could have been different. He meant a lot to us. If your spirit was down he was somebody who would lift your spirit."
Bertha Molefe from Soweto, who lost her last born daughter Sofia Molefe, 21, said the judgment brought back painful memories.
"It is still painful and we will never forget. It hurts us the most.
"When we think about the incident we become emotionally disturbed. I can't even speak," she said.
'Deaths could have been avoided if protocols were followed'
WATCH | Life Esidimeni judgement delivered
Life Esidimeni inquest findings due on Friday
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