Limpopo Health MEC Dieketseng Mashego has been accused of lying about the true cause of the death of a mentally ill patient at Philadelphia Hospital in Dennilton.

Klaas Ledwaba, 33, died in a psychiatric hospital ward on March 10, after allegedly being attacked by a fellow patient.

In an interview with SABC News on Saturday, March 8, Mashego said Ledwaba died from a gruesome bite off of his genitals by another patient, a claim rejected by the deceased’s family and contradicted by the police.

According to Limpopo police spokesperson, Colonel Malesela Ledwaba, a 45-year-old patient was found on top of Klaas’ lifeless body, allegedly biting his genitals. He added that the deceased sustained a gunshot wound on the head.

“A male suspect was found on top of a lifeless male body, covered in blood, and allegedly biting the deceased’s genitals. The deceased sustained a gunshot wound on the head, along with multiple injuries, including missing teeth.”

“The suspect also suffered gunshot wounds on both legs, allegedly inflicted by a security officer who was attempting to diffuse the situation,” Colonel Ledwaba said.

He added that a security guard also sustained a gunshot wound on the thigh, allegedly caused by a ricochet bullet fired by his colleague during the incident.

The Ledwaba family has rejected Mashego’s version of events. Family spokesperson Seun Mogotsi said Klaas’ genitals were still intact with bites, but believes he died from a fatal gunshot that pierced through his skull.

In a letter to Mashego, copied to Premier Dr Phophi Ramathuba, Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi and the Public Protector, Mogotji said they believed Klaas died from gunshot wounds.

“Whilst we are grieving the loss of our beloved son, we are failing to come to terms with the distortions, untruths, confusing statements made by yourselves and some of your colleagues in government.
Klaas tragically lost his life when he was supposed to receive due care and support from you,” Mogotji said.

“On Monday, the family identified the deceased’s body and his sex organs were still there. We were deliberately lied to and in bad faith, spared horrendous details that our son died as result of a gunshot on his head,” Ledwaba family spokesperson added.

In the letter, Mogotji also accused Mashego and the provincial health department of misleading the Ledwaba family about the true cause of Klaas’ death and later performing an autopsy before the deceased’s relatives could identify the body.

“You and your colleagues, no less the Minister of Health, Deputy Minister of Police and Premier of Limpopo; informed the family that Klaas was a victim of a violent attack by one mentally sick patient. The said assailant used his teeth to lacerate his genitals and ate them. Your version is untrue. The family identified the deceased’s body today the 10 March 2025, his sex organs are still there,” Mogotji added.

“The family was further informed that there were security officers who intervened in the attack by firing gunshots at the violent assailant who sustained injuries as a result. The family was deliberately lied to and in bad faith, spared horrendous details that their son died as result of fatal gunshot that pierced his skull.”

“Today the 10 March 2025, the family was terribly disconcerted when it received news that autopsy was hurriedly conducted on the son’s mortal before the family could identify the body and proper authorization be obtained by the authorities.”

The family revealed that they will seek legal opinion about the Limpopo Department of Health’s decision to perform a postmortem before informing them about the death.

Limpopo Department of Health spokesperson, Neil Shikwambana, says they have launched an internal investigation into Klaas’ death “to establish all facts”. However, Shikwambana insisted that there is no law that says an autopsy cannot happen before the bodies of people like Klaas are formally identified. The process of identification can still happen even after the autopsy has been carried out.

“We have appointed a team to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the matter in order to establish all facts especially on the internal aspects of things. Also, the police are busy with their criminal investigations and we believe these processes will assist all of us to establish facts into the matter,” Shikwambana said.

During his visit to the hospital on Saturday following the incident, Motsoaledi launched a scathing attack on the security personnel who failed to contain the situation despite being armed.

“That security company must be suspended from this hospital with immediate effect, because what else are they capable of? They must immediately suspend them – with immediate effect, Motsoaledi said.

Limpopo Nehawu provincial secretary Mosses Maubane was yet to respond to African Times’s enquiries about the incident at the time of publication.