Staff Reporter.
Babita Deokaran, a Gauteng Health Department official, was gunned down outside her home in Mondeor, Johannesburg just after 8am on Monday. (Photo: Facebook).
Gauteng Premier David Makhura announced on Tuesday that his government is taking steps to protect officials who have become targets of threats, intimidation and wanton murder after the death of Babita Deokaran, a senior finance official in the Gauteng health department.
Deokaran, shot and killed on Monday,was one the Special Investigative Unit’s (SIU) witnesses in their corruption investigations involving the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the province.
“We will not be cowed down by criminal gangs who want to loot state resources,” said Makhura after a visit to Deokaran’s family accompanied by MEC for Health Nomathemba Mokgethi.
“In honour of Deokaran, we will do everything in our power to ensure that the perpetrators of corrupt tender processes and the callous killing of officials face the full might of the law.”
“She was a distinguished and exemplary public servant who served the people of Gauteng and the Department of Health with exceptional professionalism, unswerving dedication, and high ethical standards.”
“We will not rest until our province is declared a corruption-free zone as well as a safe and ethical environment to live, work and do business in, “concluded Premier Makhura.
He said that the government will continue to work with the SIU and other state institutions to uncover acts of corruption and ensure that public funds looted from the state are recovered.
Makhura said that a dedicated SAPS Provincial Task Team has been established to hunt down the perpetrators of the gruesome murder.
Deokaran was appointed acting chief financial officer (CFO) in August 2020 in the aftermath of the irregular and unlawful PPE procurement that rocked Gauteng.
“During her tenure as the acting CFO, Deokaran uncovered corruption and stopped payments of irregular contracts in the department at different levels, including in hospitals.”
Meanwhile, Mokgethi said she was at a loss for words after Deokaran’s death.
“Ms Babita Deokaran was an invaluable member of the Gauteng Health team, she rose up the ranks in the public service, in the last three decades, after she joined as an accounting clerk.
“She went on to become chief director: financial accounting at the GDoH and at times acted as the CFO,” said Mokgethi.