Maverick Citizen is running a series of weekly portraits of those who died and the stories of the loved ones left behind. Harriet Perlman, Darnell Nxumalo and photographer Mark Lewis have been interviewing families as part of an ongoing memorial and advocacy website.
The inquest into the Life Esidimeni tragedy will determine whether there can be any criminal liability for the deaths of 144 mental healthcare patients who died in the care of the South African public health system. Patients died from neglect, starvation, torture and abuse.
The inquest is often mired in legal debate and technical mishaps. It can be easy to forget that it is people who are at the heart of this horrific human tragedy. Their lives and stories matter. The inquest is primarily about their pain, struggle for answers and ongoing fight for justice.
“It was Christmas Day in Eldorado Park. Cindy is laughing and laughing. She is so happy,” Vaughn, her older brother, remembers.
But Vaughn feels great sadness when he looks at this photograph.
“I can’t get out of my mind how she looked when I saw her before she died. That’s the picture that stays with me. She was wearing someone else’s dress…