The South African government is failing whistleblowers

It has been a little over four years since 12 bullets ruptured the body of Babita Deokaran, a single mother of a daughter and chief accountant at the Gauteng Department of Health.

Deokaran had flagged R850 million of suspicious Tembisa Hospital payments that had occurred over just a few months, just days before she was brutally murdered.

From R60 million in payments to letterbox companies that exist only on paper and R500,000 for 200 girls’ denim pants, to name a few, the Tembisa Hospital is known as a feeding trough for the corrupt.

This hospital, granted additional funding for the COVID-19 pandemic, is struggling with overcrowding, staff shortages, and worsening conditions for the most vulnerable patients.

Deokaran had to do the right thing, and did; which made her a threat to the corrupt network.

Just days before she was violently killed, the single mother sent a chilling message to the Department’s CFO, Lerato Madyo, who ignored her warnings:

“I am just worried that the guys in Tembisa are going to realise we are not releasing their payments and know that we on to something. Our lives could be in danger.”

Her life was, and a group of hitmen took her life in an execution-style hit in Mondeor, Johannesburg, after dropping her teenage daughter off at school.

“She was a loving mom, daughter, sister, and aunt. None mattered, and they silenced her at all costs,” said Devoshum Moodley-Veera from the Active Citizens Movement at the launch of Jeff Wick’s new book The Shadow State: Why Babita Deokaran had to die.

Launched in Killarney, Johannesburg on 27 August, the News24 investigative journalist, who is a two-time recipient of the prestigious Taco Kuiper Award, unpacked the years-long investigation the organisation has followed.

“This book is a tribute to the courage of Babita, who refused to keep quiet, despite being confronted with powerful wrongdoers,” said Wicks.

The hitmen responsible for Deokaran’s killing were ultimately arrested, with some eligible for parole next year. However, the crucial question remains: who ordered the murder, and what was their motive?

The book intricately uncovers a web of crooked officials, ANC politicians and extraction syndicates, a shadow state, siphoning billions upon billions meant for healthcare out of Gauteng public hospitals.

This is to feed their lifestyles of imported luxury cars, Persian carpets worth hundreds of thousands of rands, and mansions while patients suffer in the ailing Tembisa Hospital.

Wicks confronts everyone who failed to do their jobs, from the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation to Deokaran’s supervisors.

No stone was left unturned, despite the risk it posed to him and his family.

He also highlights those who courageously stepped up, like Captain Freddy Hicks, who operates in a force with an 11% murder detection rate, and Deokaran’s devastated brother Rakesh, who was at the launch.

While the web has been unraveled, Wicks laid bare his anguish from the lack of justice.

“I feel like I have failed. Four years later, not a single corrupt individual has been arrested or prosecuted. They are still breathing free air,” he said.

South Africa is failing whistleblowers

The Tembisa Hospital is an example of just one feeding trough for the corrupt in South Africa, and assassinations of those who speak out are common.

“I truly worry about the extent of the shadow state that we do not know yet,” said Wicks.

From Deokaran, to Jimmy Mohlala, Moss Phakoe, Pamela Mabini, and Cloete Murray to name a few, exposing corruption is deadly in South Africa and inaction allows for it.

A major topic of discussion at the launch was the South African government’s fight, or lack thereof, for the protection of whistleblowers.

The launch moderator, renowned journalist Mandy Wiener, emphasised that state capture is far from over.

To expose this rot, it is brave whistleblowers and investigative journalists who risk their lives and livelihoods to do the right thing for the benefit of the country.

Wiener, who wrote The Whistleblowers several years ago, said that there has to be fundamental, systemic changes to the legislation and the framework of whistleblowing if the country is going to encourage others to come forward.

She said that the current system is far from sufficient to protect whistleblowers in a practical, real way.

This was echoed by Moodley-Veera, who criticised the government for what it described as unfulfilled promises to protect whistleblowers.

This is despite recommendations by various institutions, including the State Capture commission, urging the state to take decisive action.

South Africa’s whistleblower law, the Protected Disclosures Act (PDA) of 2000, was amended in 2017 to expand its scope, but experts says this is far from enough. 

A Discussion Document on Proposed Reforms for the Whistleblower Protection Regime was released in June 2023, proposing a new bill to further enhance protections.

This is by criminalising threats against whistleblowers, expanding protection to more individuals, and shifting the burden of proof in denial claims. 

“They promised a new law by the end of this year. It is early September and we are nowhere near it,” said Wiener.

Apart from protecting and proving support to whistleblowers, as well as serious and urgent legislative changes, the Active Citizens Movement is advocating for 23 August to be declared National Whistleblowers Day

The 23rd of August, the haunting anniversary of Babita Deokaran’s death, would be to honour her and other whistleblowers’ bravery and sacrifice.

“Babita’s story needs to be a catalyst for much-needed change. We honour her courage and we cannot allow for her story to be forgotten,” said Wicks.

The Shadow State: Why Babita Deokaran had to die is now available online or at any reputable book store. It is a harrowing yet critical read.