By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Six men who were arrested last week in connection with whistleblower Babita Deokaran’s murder have made their first appearance in the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court.
Phakamani Radebe, Zitha Radebe, Nhlangano Ndlovu, Siphakanyiswa Dladla, Simphiwe Mazibuko and Sanele Mbele are facing charges of murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and possession of an unlicensed firearm.
They made a brief appearance in the dock on Monday, when their case was adjourned to mid-September for a formal bail application.
Deokaran was gunned down outside her home in Mondeor, south of Johannesburg, last Monday.
The acting chief financial officer for the Gauteng department of health was one of the witnesses in the Special Investigating Unit’s (SIU’s) probe into allegations of corruption involving a R300 million personal protective equipment (PPE) tender.
Seven men – all from KwaZulu-Natal – were initially arrested in connection with the crime on Friday but one wound up not being charged due to a lack of evidence against him.
After the brief court appearance, Hawks spokesperson Captain Ndivhuwo Mulamu said more people would be arrested for the murder. He could not provide a time frame for the additional arrests.
“We still have outstanding suspects that we are looking into, there is intelligence that we are working on and we are following up on that information we can actually confirm that more arrests will be imminent.”
Meanwhile President Cyril Ramaphosa reflected on Gauteng health department official Babita Deokaran’s murder and admitted that while options were available, more needed to be done.
Ramaphosa said it is clear that the state needs to urgently review its current approach not only to witness protection, but also to the broader protection of whistleblowers.
He made the declaration on Monday in the latest edition of his weekly newsletter in the wake of the murder of Deokaran, last week.
Her murder, said the President, was “to enable whistleblowers to report anonymously, we need to tighten up existing systems and provide greater support to those who publicly come forward with information.
“As society, we need to identify where existing laws and policies are inadequate in protecting the livelihoods, reputations and safety of whistleblowers – and work together to address these.”
“The intent of the criminals who target whistleblowers is not only to silence particular individuals – it is also to send a message to other potential whistleblowers,” he said.
Without the bravery and principled interventions of whistleblowers, government would be unable to unmask those committing corruption.
He said: “Though much focus in recent times has been on whistleblowers in the public sector, we also owe a debt of gratitude to those in the private sector whose actions receive less attention, but are equally important.”
Emphasising the importance of whistleblowers, describing them as “guardians of our democracy”, he said they raise the alarm against unethical acts and practices in government and organisations.