never again

Maggie Mosiane & her late brother Caswell Mosiane

Maggie Mosiane and her late brother Caswell Mosiane

THEY LIED. HE DID HAVE FAMILY

This photo was taken in 2015 during the Christmas holidays, when Caswell was spending time with the family.

Caswell Mosiane was moved from the Life Esidimeni in Randfontein in June 2016, soon after the government had won its March court case to move adult patients with chronic mental illness to Takalani Home. He was there for only a few weeks before he died. He was just 39 years old.

At the March court hearing, the Department of Health said that patients who were being sent to Takalani Children’s Home did not have families. But this was not true.

‘Our family was contacted before Caswell was moved,’ Maggie says. This proves the department knew. ‘We also received a call from Takalani to inform us that Caswell was in hospital. And they contacted us after his death.’

The department lied. Caswell had a family who loved him and the mystery around his death has left them angry and heartbroken.

The death certificate states that Caswell had died of ‘natural causes’. However, when Maggie’s mom examined Caswell’s body after he died, she saw that her son’s face was badly bruised.

Maggie’s mom, Yvonne Martha Mosiane, desperately wanted to know the truth of what had happened to her son. But she died without knowing. Maggie says Caswell’s death and the trauma of what happened to him, left her mom emotionally and physically ill.

And Maggie feels the same way.

‘I want to know what really happened to my brother. I will find peace when I know the truth about how he died.’