When Babita Deokoran, a 53-year-old civil servant and chief financial officer of the health department in the local government of the South African province of Gauteng, reported shocking fraud and corruption for millions of rands (the currency of the Republic of South Africa), the scandal led to a wave of resignations and investigations.
The will to fight corruption in South Africa has now peaked after former President Jacob Zuma was jailed for all his abuses of power over the years, but Deokoran’s allegations of bogus supply contracts medical materials to combat the covid crisis throw many into shock.
The documents she presents prove the existence of a corruption scheme worth over 330 million rand (over 20 million dollars) in the supply of personal protective equipment during the lockdown in the country in 2020.
This has led to the dismissal of several senior officials, including former provincial health minister Bandile Masuku.
That is why when the masked men attacked Babita Deokoran on the street in front of her house on August 23 this year, shortly after she left her daughter at school, the whole country was shocked. The civil servant was shot several times in the body and head, and her death occurred on the spot.
Amnesty International, a global non-governmental human rights organization, has expressed serious concern about the killing, and the Ahmed Katrada Foundation has described the incident as a professional and well-planned attack.
Less than two weeks after her murder, South African police now have the first seven people detained in connection with the assassination attempt on her.
The main thesis on which the law enforcement authorities are conducting the investigation is that it is a conspiracy to remove Deokoran – both revenge by the authorities affected by its revelations, and a purely pragmatic cleansing of the most important prosecution witness in the current megacase for corruption among the state apparatus in the province of Gauteng.
The death of the former civil servant has provoked numerous public comments about the need for the authorities to protect such key witnesses leaking information on relevant corruption cases.
Although South African law allows for police protection for those who report crimes, including corruption, according to Richard Chelin, a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, there is still much to be done to ensure the protection of these people.
“The moment someone starts to become an important factor in a corruption investigation, there is always a threat to their life,” he said.
In the case of Babita Deokoran, the Special Investigations Department in Gauteng Province for some reason considered that she did not deserve special protection.
She herself stated that she did not think that her life was endangered in any way, but according to Celin, the final assessment should have been made by the responsible authorities, which are in principle obliged to know better what it is about.
He said killings such as Deokaran’s were used to send a message to other government officials who could potentially report corruption and violations to warn them not to cooperate with police investigations.
The Katrada Foundation, a South African group for the protection of civil rights, is also calling for this. Although they praised the authorities for the quick arrests in the case, in a published official position they criticized the authorities for the lack of protection for people who report abuse.
Hence, they claim that many such cases of murders of whistleblowers do not receive enough public attention, thus leaving a number of cases “fading” and leaving the families of the victims without justice.
“The arrests in the Deokaran case, no matter how important, will not bring back the mother, daughter, colleague and honest civil servant,” the NGO group said in a statement.
Police urged people to continue reporting corruption and assured current witnesses that they have protection.
“Ms. Deokaran’s assassination should not deter South Africans and government officials from reporting cases of corruption, abuse, greed and mismanagement to government departments, municipalities and government officials,” a statement from provincial law enforcement said.
The investigation into her murder is currently underway, with police finding that a senior member of the African National Congress, South Africa’s ruling party, is wanted as a potential guarantor. However, it is still not specified who the specific politician is, nor is more information given about the connection with the crime.
The seven people detained so far are more related to the organization and execution of the assassination attempt on Deokoran. Large sums of cash were found in their cars.
The police commented that the operation to carry out the attack was expensive and performed by experienced people.
The detained men are charged with murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and possession of unlicensed weapons. The provincial authorities hope that swift arrests and signals for an ongoing investigation, which will potentially involve more indictees, will increase overall confidence in the police and the Gauteng authorities in general.
“I believe the police will expose the organizers of this horrific crime,” Gauteng Prime Minister David Mahura said in a speech, describing Deokoran as a “civil servant as an example”.”The corrupt elements in the government that are colluding with the criminal business to falsify public auctions and public procurement have nowhere to hide. The marauders will not win. We will not back down,” he added.
As for the case of corruption and fraud with medical materials for medical protection in the province continues. Prior to Deokoran’s assassination, the preparation of the case was coming to an end, and her testimony as a key witness was at the heart of the prosecutor’s strategy. They still have the documents she exports there.
However, according to local media, Babita was also an important factor in a larger investigation into corruption in the provincial state administration.
President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokeswoman, Hussela Diko, was also fired after her late husband, Tandizue Diko, was involved in alleged fraudulent contracts announced by Deokaran.
Recently, the country’s health minister, Zveli Mkhize, was forced to resign after allegations that he and his family had taken advantage of a public tender over the coronavirus crisis granted by his ministry.
