A major investigation into the Tembisa Hospital has uncovered a vast network of corruption involving four syndicates and over 111 government officials, a revelation made possible by information from slain whistleblower Babita Deokaran.
The findings, announced by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), expose the staggering scale of graft at the Gauteng health facility, with billions of rands in unlawfully obtained contracts now targeted for recovery.
The breakthrough is bittersweet, coming nearly four years after Deokaran was assassinated for her courage in exposing the malfeasance. On 23 August 2021, after dropping her child at school, Deokaran was shot multiple times by a team of hitmen outside her home in Winchester Hills, south of Johannesburg.
Her family, shattered by her loss, finds solace in the fact that her fight was not in vain. “We have to remain strong because we know that she’s not the only one. We know that there are other people speaking up for what is right in our country,” a family representative said. “But unfortunately, yes, she did lose her life for what was right.”
The SIU’s three-year probe has laid bare the extensive corruption. SIU spokesperson Advocate Mothibi revealed that the 111 implicated officials were colluding with external syndicates to siphon public funds. “Imagine 111, right? So it just indicates the extent… and again there might still be more,” Mothibi stated.
All implicated officials have been referred to the National Department of Health for disciplinary action, with the SIU confirming that some steps have already been taken. Furthermore, the unit is moving to cancel corrupt contracts and recover the misappropriated funds.
“We’re talking billions of rands here,” Advocate Mothibi said. “We are going to make sure that we recover… and ensure that all those assets that have been obtained and benefited corruptly… are seized and returned to the state.”
However, the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation highlighted the grim, ongoing consequences of such corruption. Despite the investigation, the foundation notes that companies implicated in the Tembisa scandal do not appear to have been blacklisted, a failure for which provincial and national treasury must answer.
“The consequences of this mean that resources meant for critical services… means that people go without,” a foundation representative said. “Worst of all is that money then gets sent back to national treasury which is unspent… and that is just criminal.”
For Deokaran’s family, the pursuit of justice remains painfully incomplete. While six hitmen were convicted for her murder, the masterminds who ordered her killing remain at large. The family has made a direct appeal to President Cyril Ramaphosa to hasten the investigation.
“The only time that we will actually rest is when we know who was the mastermind behind this,” the family said. “The sad thing is that they wanted her silenced so badly that they didn’t hire one hitman or two hitmen. It took six hitmen to bring her down. That says a lot about our country.”
As the nation marks four years since her death, Babita Deokaran’s legacy is a damning indictment of systemic corruption and a powerful testament to the ultimate price paid by those who dare to expose it.
