The Babita Deokaran effect: New tender laws, ‘hospital syndicates’, whistleblower incentives

The anniversary of slain whistleblower Babita Deokaran’s assassination on Friday has cast a renewed spotlight on the sickening extend of tender fraud and corruption amounting to billions at Gauteng hospitals.

The 53-year-old Deokaran died in a hail of bullets three years ago after flagging irregular tenders worth R850 million at the Tembisa Hospital.

The group of six hitmen who killed the Gauteng health department senior official outside her Mondeor home, south of Johannesburg, have been convicted for her murder.

Justice for Babita Deokaran?

However, there are many who feel that justice has not been fully served. To this day, police are still no closer to apprehending the mastermind who orchestrated the hit to silence Deokaran.

News24 reported on Friday that the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has uncovered a potential trail of “wholesale” looting amounting to a staggering R3 billion from Tembisa Hospital since her death.

SIU to probe new claims of corruption at other hospitals

At a memorial event for Deokaran on Friday evening, SIU head Andy Mothibi revealed that new information of alleged dodgy dealings by three syndicates at several other hospitals has now come to light.

“The team is engaging with whistleblowers who worked with one of the syndicates. They allege that the syndicates are involved in other hospitals.”

Mothibi stressed however that this information is still being verified.

“The information is currently being verified by the Special Investigating Team, the e-Gov and the Treasury. So we’ll either be expanding the proclamation or getting new proclamations to investigate at other hospitals.”

He added that investigators working on the Deokaran case have been subjected to security threats.

“It’s been very complex and safety issues have been raised with us. The investigators have picked up indications of threats when they leave from Pretoria to Tembisa. We’ve alerted the crime investigation and we are working with the police to ensure we are not distracted in doing our work.”

The deep-seated rot uncovered at Tembisa Hospital following Deokaran’s tragic murder, has prompted the Gauteng government to implement new tender procurement measures.

Gauteng tightens tender laws in honour of Babita Deokaran

The Gauteng Health Department announced that it will be tightening its tender laws in the memory of Deokaran.

Going forward, any procurement in the health department that is between R500,000 and R1 million must be reviewed by the Gauteng Provincial Treasury before purchase orders are issued.

Provincial government spokesperson Vuyo Mhaga said all heads of department have since undergone lifestyle audits.

“A new Request for Quote (RFQ) pre-compliance checklist has been introduced to ensure adherence with SCM processes while Quotation Adjudication Committees have been established in each health facility for oversight on procurement between R2,001 and R1 million.

“In an effort to ensure that an ethical public service is institutionalised, all employees are required to complete an online ethics course by October 2024.

“Employees appointed at level 9 and 10 are also required to disclose their financial interest every two years.

“As part of recruitment process, newly appointed designated employees in all categories must disclose interest 30 days after assumption of duty,” said Mhaga.

Zondo calls for financial incentives for whistleblowers

Meanwhile, outgoing Chief Justice Raymond Zondo has been vocal in calling for reform in whistleblower protection.

In an interview with Eyewitness News on Friday, Zondo stressed the importance of including financial incentives for whistleblowers in the amendment of legislation for their protection which is currently underway.

“I’ve said on public platforms that some people might say: ‘No people have a moral duty to report crime and so on and so on, and they shouldn’t be paid for that’. But the kind of levels of corruption that we have in this country don’t give us that luxury.”