August 23 will mark two years since Gauteng Health Department official Babita Deokaran was gunned down outside her home in Winchester Hills, Johannesburg.

The court yesterday heard that the state and the defence had been negotiating and were in the process of finalising a plea and sentence agreement.

This follows a brief appearance of the six men who stand accused of the murder of the whistleblower who was fatally shot in 2021.

She was in the process of exposing corruption to the tune of a billion rand in contracts at Thembisa Hospital.

Phakamani Hadebe, Zitha Radebe, Phinda Ndlovu, Sanele Mbhele, Siphiwe Mazibuko and Siphakanyiswa Dladla are the accused in the matter.

Babita’s matter has since been postponed to next week Tuesday and the accused will continue to remain in custody after being denied bail during a previous appearance.

Outa outcry

In their quest to seek justice and voice their concerns, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) picketed outside the high court amid the murder matter.

Community engagement officer of Outa Ali Gule said: “We were here to support the case of Babita, in essence, we were here to support all whistleblowers in the country. A lot of good sentiment has been expressed, but the government does not seem to have enough political will to support whistleblowers.”