In 2017, the Commission conducted investigative hearing into the status of mental health care in South Africa. Throughout the investigation, the Commission noted that lack of skills, training and resources negatively impacted on the rights of additionally vulnerable groups such as people with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities. The Commission further noted that poor treatment, abuse, and neglect of mentally ill patients result, not only in a denial of their rights to access health, but also violate their right to be treated with dignity.  

In 2019, the Commission released a “REPORT OF THE NATIONAL INVESTIGATIVE HEARING INTO THE STATUSOF MENTAL HEALTH IN SOUTH AFRICA”, wherein it highlighted its findings and recommendations with timelines to each province. As part of the recommendations, the Commission indicated that it would require a report from the MEC of Health, detailing progress on the recommendations within 12 months of issuing this report and at 6-month intervals thereafter. To this effect, the Northern Cape Provincial Office hosted a Virtual Promotional Strategic Intervention with the Northern Cape Department of Health (the Department) on Wednesday, 29 September 2021 to track the progress made in implementing the recommendations of the report by the Department.

The Commission appreciates the efforts and the progress made by the Department in implementing the recommendations of the report. However, the Commission noted with concerns at the time that the recommendations were not fully implemented since the release of the report in 2019

Against this background, the Northern Cape Provincial Office will be conducting a Stakeholder Engagement on the State of Mental Health Care in the Northern Cape Province to track the progress made in implementing the recommendations to date.

The stakeholder engagement is scheduled to take place as follows:

Date    : Monday, 14 November 2022
Time   : 10:00 AM – 13:00 PM
Venue : Windows Teams Meeting

Joining the engagement are the Office of Health Standard Compliance, and the South African Federation for Mental Health.

Ends

Prepared by the Northern Cape Provincial Office of the South African Human Rights Commission.

For further information contact Mr. Anthony Wyngaard, Acting Provincial Manager, at Tel: 054 332 3993 / Cell: 074 134 6972; Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Buyisile July, Advocacy and Research Consultant at Tel: 054 332 3993 / Cell: 072 949 7578 ; Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.