Community Champion of the Year: Life Esidimeni activist Christine Nxumalo’s victory for mental health

Although Christine Nxumalo has always been an active participant in community outreach, she never considered herself an activist. That was until the avoidable Life Esidimeni tragedy, which claimed the lives of 144 mental healthcare users, shocked SA to its core in 2016.

Nxumalo’s sister, Virginia Machpelah, was one of those tragically let down by the SA government. Her preventable death propelled Nxumalo into the fight for accountability, justice and mental health reform in South Africa.

“Life Esidimeni kind of pushed me… I attended a meeting, and I think be­cause I screamed … louder than everybody else, the fa­­mily said, ‘Please be the person who represents us,’ ” Nxumalo said.

What began as desperate pleas for information about their loved ones’ whereabouts turned into an almost decade-long fight for accountability and justice. With Nxumalo as their voice, the families of the Life Esidimeni victims sounded the alarm about the tragedy as it was unfolding, speaking to the media and even taking the Gauteng Department of Health to court.

Nxumalo and the Life Esidimeni families’ years of activism slowly moved the wheels of justice. First came arbitration proceedings between the government and the families, during which retired Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke found that former health MEC Qedani Ma­­­hlangu and former director of the mental health directorate in Gauteng Dr Makgabo Manamela were accountable for the deaths. Then, in July this year, an inquest into the deaths concluded that Mahlangu and Manamela could be held criminally accountable for some of the patients’ deaths. This judgment opened the door for the National Prosecuting Authority to criminally prosecute the pair – an opportunity it has yet to seize.

What kept Nxumalo going?

“I think, for me, it was realising just how many people were affected… But I think what got to me is how my kids have suffered from mental illness,” Nxumalo said.

A pivotal moment in her journey was during the arbitration, when her niece was asked to detail the damage and pain the families were experiencing at the time.

“Ever since that meeting … she had so much anxiety and fear that it was too much to bear. I suppose it makes sense why she then died of a broken heart,” Nxumalo said.

This highlighted how the mental health crisis has a knock-on effect, as both her children now suffer from anxiety. It underscores the need for tackling the mental health crisis in South Africa and providing adequate care, which Nxumalo insists must become a national priority. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.