Whistle-blowers still not safe a year after Deokaran killing

As friends and family laid wreaths outside the Mondeor home of slain Gauteng senior government official Babita Deokaran in Johannesburg yesterday, organs of civil society said South Africa remained unsafe for whistle-blowers.

Deokaran has been lauded for being a bulwark against corruption.

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Whistle-blower shot repeatedly

The chief director of the provincial health department, Deokaran was shot at least 12 times on 23 August, 2021 outside her home.

This was after she had raised the alarm over fraud and corruption at the Tembisa Hospital amounting to R850 million. She spoke up after reporting suspicious payments to multiple businesses.

Six men – Phakamani Hadebe, Zitha Radebe, Nhlangano Ndlovu, Sanele Mbhele, Siphiwe Mazibuko and Siphakanyiswa Dladla – were arrested for her murder.

After a plea agreement with the state, they pleaded guilty last year and were sentenced to varying jail terms relating to their roles in the murder.

Experts have cited a failure to pin down those who ordered the Deokaran hit and a lack of political will to overhaul the Protected Disclosures Act (PDA), which is meant to protect whistle-blowers.

Social worker John Clarke, who has helped several whistle-blowers, slammed the provisions of the PDA as ineffective for those speaking out on wrongdoing.

‘No political will’ to see justice

“As far as legislation is concerned, it is clear that there is no political will to bring about the implementation of the PDA, four years since being signed into law.

“The reason the PDA has not been overhauled is because there is a staggered bureaucratic machine, which has coopted some key government officials and politicians across the board to retard progress in trying to get meaningful state protection for whistle-blowers,” said Clarke.

“It is not sustainable for individuals to take this burden when the state has to take it on and make things easier.

“I cannot think of any productive investment in South Africa’s future than for us to have a climate in which the rule of law prevails, allowing whistle-blowers to know they will not be killed in retaliatory attacks or face lawsuits.

“The state has to tighten things up and I hope that the government of national unity (GNU) takes up the cause of whistle-blowers,” said Clarke.

He said SA was “not safe yet for whistleblowers”.

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Fellow whistle-blower argues truth prevails

Whistle-blower Patrick Maduna “talks about how he still has a bullet hole in his car, a retaliation against him speaking out on corruption involving a BEE fronting scheme, in a Shell and Barloworld project,” he said.

On Deokaran’s legacy, Clarke said: “Babita’s death shows that truth does ultimately prevail.

“We need to take her death, not as a crisis in the negative sense, but as an opportunity to claim our constitutional values, principles and provisions, to ensure that truth can be spoken to power without retaliation.”

He praised the role of the media in its investigative reporting on Deokaran. Ahmed Kathrada Foundation executive director Neeshan Balton was among those who had spoken to Deokaran before her death.

“At the height of the Covid pandemic, we engaged via WhatsApp when she shared her frustrations and problems she was experiencing at the Gauteng department of health,” said Balton.

He said whistle-blowers and corruption investigators “all face dangers in the country”.

“We hope the GNU will make the implementation of new whistle-blower legislation a priority. The protection of whistle-blowers is paramount. “

Government looks at amending legislation

Government last year released a discussion document relating to amendments to current whistle-blower legislation.

“The GNU needs to expedite this and amend the legislation to offer genuine protection to whistle-blowers,” said Balton.

With kingpins behind the assassination of Deokaran still at large, Corruption Watch executive director Karam Singh, said it was “concerning that those behind the hit have not yet been apprehended”.