Democratic Alliance (DA) leader, Mmusi Maimane, on Tuesday called for Gauteng Premier David Makhura to resign following the deaths of more than 100 psychiatric patients in the province who were transferred from Life Esidimeni.

During a protest at the Gauteng Premier’s office on Tuesday morning, Maimane said Makhura could not stay in office until 2019.

He was joined by DA Gauteng provincial leader John Moodey, DA Johannesburg regional chairperson Khume Ramulifho, DA health spokesperson Jack Bloom, and Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba.

Maimane said the Gauteng government, led by the African National Congress (ANC), was responsible for the deaths of more than 100 mental health patients, saying that the deaths would have been prevented had Makhura heeded the many warnings.

“This ANC government allowed more than a hundred mental health patients to die from starvation, dehydration, diarrhoea, pneumonia and seizures,” Maimane said.

“This ANC government calls these tragic deaths due to abandonment and neglect a ‘mistake’. But this was far more than a mistake. What happened to these people required deliberate decisions – decisions that were made in the face of repeated warnings of the disastrous outcome that would follow.”

Health Ombudsman, Professor Malegapuru Makgoba, reported last month that more than 100 psychiatric patients had died from, among other conditions, neglect and starvation since their transfer to unlicensed NGOs.

During his State of the Province Address (Sopa) last week, Makhura said his executive team did not give the go-ahead for the transfer of mentally ill patients to the non-government organisations.

Maimane said if Makhura did not know what was happening to psychiatric patients, then that meant he was not doing his job.

He said Makhura was told as far back as November 2015, during the debate on the Health Annual Report, of the grave dangers of moving these patients, but “chose not to act”.

“And even after you were told of the first confirmed deaths, you did nothing. For 141 days you let Qedani Mahlangu remain in her post, as the death toll was rising,” Maimane said.

“Only when the shameful report by the Health Ombudsman surfaced were you spurred into action. But that was too little, too late, Premier Makhura. The families of the victims deserve more. The people of South Africa deserve more.”

Meanwhile, the DA will argue for Makhura’s removal at the Gauteng provincial legislature during a debate of a motion of no confidence in the Gauteng Premier on Tuesday.