The Democratic Alliance (DA) says a report from the Public Service Commission (PSC) has confirmed that senior officials in the Gauteng Department of Health failed to hold anyone accountable for the deaths of 144 psychiatric patients during the Life Esidimeni scandal.

The PSC found that the department’s head, Nomonde Nolutshungu, did not act on recommendations to discipline officials involved, despite the constitutional and ethical duty to do so.

DA Gauteng health spokesperson Jack Bloom said: “The DA is vindicated by this finding as we have long pushed for proper accountability for this human tragedy. Despite overwhelming evidence of neglect and mismanagement, senior officials have largely escaped justice while the victims’ families continue to wait for closure.”

Bloom said the PSC’s findings highlight a culture of impunity that still plagues the provincial health department. He said the DA will press Premier Panyaza Lesufi and Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko to act swiftly against those who ignored disciplinary recommendations, adding that bureaucratic inaction continues to dishonour the memory of those who died.

The DA also called for national oversight to ensure that future health reforms uphold the standards of patient care and administrative responsibility that were so gravely violated in the Life Esidimeni case.

“The truth must be faced,” Bloom said. “Real accountability has still not been achieved.”