Last week Grocott’s Mail journalist Kathryn Cleary, Health-e TV Producer Bernadette Maguire and cameraman Lee Saunders, successfully handed over a documentary to eNCA’s current affairs show, Checkpoint.
The film follows Cleary’s investigations deep into the Eastern Cape’s mental healthcare crisis, and gives viewers an exclusive inside look into the horrors of Tower Psychiatric Hospital in Fort Beaufort.
Earlier this year, 4 March, Rapport and City Press reported on allegations made by former Tower psychiatrist, Kiran Sukeri, of human rights violations and hospital mismanagement. Cleary followed the story, and has since broken news about other mental healthcare facilities in the province.
Mid-April, following Cleary’s story about the shock resignation of a senior psychiatrist from Cecilia Makiwane hospital in East London, Maguire decided it was time to take these stories to the screen.
With experts claiming that the crisis at Tower could be worse than Life Esidimeni, and the provincial Department of Health refuting all allegations, the Grocott’s Mail and Health-e team worked to uncover the facts.
After six weeks of travelling, filming, writing and editing, the team finally had a completed documentary, which they handed over to eNCA on 6 June.
The documentary will air on Checkpoint in two parts; scheduled for 12 and 19 June at 9:30pm (eNCA) and 10pm (eTV). First of the two episode aired last, Tuesday 12 June.
Grocott’s Mail and Health-e continue to collaborate on multimedia coverage of the Eastern Cape’s mental healthcare crisis.
http://www.grocotts.co.za/2018/06/11/documentary-about-the-next-life-esidimeni-to-air-on-enca/
