By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The murder case of whistle-blower Babita Deokaran was postponed on Wednesday in the Johannesburg high court.
Phakamani Hadebe, Zitha Hadebe, Nhlangano Ndlovu, Sanele Mbhele, Simphiwe Mazibuko and Phakanyiswa Dladla made a brief appearance on Wednesday morning, in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg.
It was anticipated that the high court would set a date for the murder trial, following a pre-trial hearing in July.
But during Wednesday’s short court proceedings, the defence for the accused men requested a postponement in order to iron out some logistical issues.
These were related to the payment of legal fees for the defence and an outstanding forensic report that is required before the start of the trial.
The six accused men face charges of murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and possession of unlicensed firearm and ammunition in connection with Deokaran’s murder on 23 August 2021.
The group was arrested on 26 August 2021, in Rosettenville, Johannesburg together with a seventh suspect who was not charged, due to lack of evidence against him. All of the accused were denied bail last year.
The mastermind behind the Gauteng health official’s assassination has still not been captured.
Deokaran was a high-ranking official in the financial division of the Gauteng Department of Health and a key witness in several corruption investigations by the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) related to the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the province.
Tuesday marked exactly a year since she was gunned down outside her home in Winchester Hills, south of Johannesburg, shortly after returning from dropping off her daughter from school.
Deokaran was in the company of her domestic worker inside her car when she was killed in a hail of bullets, hence the charge of attempted murder.
All of the accused were remanded in custody until their next court appearance in October.
Meanwhile on 24 June 2021, as the third wave of the Covid pandemic was about to hit South Africa, Tembisa Hospital spent almost R500 000 on skinny jeans.
A News24 report has uncovered that R498 000 was spent on 200 pairs of skinny jeans. This amounts to R2 500 being spent on each pair.
The purchase of the jeans – for girls aged 6 to 7 – was one of the transactions questioned by whistleblower Babita Deokaran.
The contract for the 200 pairs of jeans was given to the company Inez Chaste. It was run by former professional soccer player Themba Shabalala and his wife Evelyn.
Inez Chaste was awarded the contract despite only being formed a month earlier. It was also one of 10 shell companies owned by either Themba or Evelyn. These 10 companies formed a network of around 45 shell corporations that received more than R110 million in contracts from the hospital in just two months.
The news report states that Shabalala’s companies secured contracts with Tembisa Hospital worth almost R5 million.
All the contracts were valued at between R400 000 and R499 000.
The reason for this seems to be because the hospital’s controversial CEO Ashley Mthunzi could sign off any amount that is less than R500 000. The contracts then don’t have to go out to tender.
In four months during this period, 1 203 purchase orders between R400 000 and R499 000 were processed by the hospital.
Tembisa Hospital made a string of suspicious purchases while under the helm of Mthunzi. These include buying 2 000 hand towels for about R230 each and 100 leather armchairs for R500 000.
On Tuesday, Special Investigation Unit (SIU) head Andy Mothibi said they will be investigating the allegations of corruption at Tembisa Hospital.
“[Regarding] the allegations about the Tembisa Hospital, they are under our consideration now, and we will be kicking off an investigation soon on those allegations,” Mothibi said.