by TINTSWALO BALOYI
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – THE killing of a key witness in the probe into corruption battering the continent’s most severe coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak highlights the dangers faced by whistle-blowers in fighting graft in South Africa.
It is a case of corruption fighting back.
Perpetrators will stop at nothing to cover their tracks amid the inadequate protection offered to volunteers.
Babita Deokaran (aged 53), a senior finance official at the Gauteng Department of Health, was recently gunned down outside her home in Winchester Hills, south of Johannesburg.
She was a key witness in the Special Investigating Unit’s (SIU) probe into, among others, fraudulent COVID-19 personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts in Gauteng.
The R332 million (US$22, 89 million) PPE scandal in Gauteng, the country’s economic hub and at times epicentre of COVID-19, is among a string of controversies that have marred South Africa’s response to the pandemic.
Even more worryingly, there have been concerns over the safety of the key witness into this killing after the individual identified the alleged gunmen – seven have since been arrested.
By President Cyril Ramaphosa’s own admission, existing laws and policies are inadequate in protecting the livelihoods, reputations and safety of whistle-blowers and witnesses.
He highlighted that over the three years since the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture started its work, as these investigations progressed and the net began to close on implicated individuals, witnesses had been threatened, their families intimidated, forced into hiding, and even killed.
“The murder of Babita Deokaran is a stark reminder of the high stakes involved in our collective quest to remove this cancer (corruption) from our society,” Ramaphosa lamented.
In March, a Transnet employee, who testified before the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, narrowly escaped death when gunmen opened fire on him in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg.
He had received death threats after he testified against former executives at the beleaguered state-owned enterprise accused of corruption.
“We have been aware of dirty tricks and a fight-back campaign by those involved in the looting of Transnet during the state capture era,” Popo Molefe, Transnet board chairman stated at the time.
Former South African Airways (SAA) board chairperson, Dudu Myeni, breached an order by the commission when she revealed the name of a protected witness.
This was denounced as endangering life of the witness and subjecting him to victimisation.
The Parktown offices of the commission, which probes the so-called “state capture”, the alleged massive corruption under the presidency of Jacob Zuma (2009 to 2018), were in April burgled with laptops stolen.
The killing of Deokaran has sparked outrage, considering it coincided with Women’s Month (August).
“It is sad that this incident takes place during Women’s Month,” the Public Service Commission stated (PSC).
“To the extent that Deokaran’ s death is linked to her involvement with the SIU probe, the PSC views her killing as an attack not only on whistle-blowers, but on the professionalisation of the public service as a whole.”
PSC stated this incident once again highlighted the vulnerability of whistle-blowers hence the appeal to law enforcement agencies to “take note of this tragic incident and to strengthen measures to ensure the safety of all persons who take courage to report maladministration and corruption.”
Police have been commended for the arrest of the seven individuals, who are believed to have been hired and reportedly stalked her for more than a month.
Six, all from KwaZulu-Natal province, (aged 24-to-30) have appeared at the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on charges of murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.
They suspects are expected back in court on September for bail application.
The SIU assured it had put measures in place to ensure the safety of witnesses, whistle-blowers and investigators.
“The murder of Ms Deokaran should not deter South Africans and public servants from reporting allegations of corruption, malpractice, greed and maladministration in the affairs government departments, municipalities and State Owned Entities,” it stated.
SIU disclosed an individual who was with Deokaran in her car and witnessed the shooting was in a safe place.
South Africa guarantees the protection for whistle-blowers under the Protected Disclosures Act, Labour Relations Act, Companies Act, Protection against Harassment Act, and the Constitution.
The Office of Witness Protection administered by the Department of Justice and Correctional Services provide support to vulnerable and intimidated witnesses in any judicial proceedings.
“It is clear that as the fight against corruption gathers momentum, we need to urgently review our current approach not only to witness protection, but also to the broader protection of whistle-blowers,” Ramaphosa said.
The president declared that South Africans would not be intimidated.
“Those behind the killing of witnesses and whistle-blowers will be arrested and face the might of the law, as will all who are found guilty of the very corruption these assassins are trying to cover up,” Ramaphosa said.
– CAJ News