Legislature adopts motion to honour slain whistle-blower's memory.
Four years after slain whistle-blower Babita Deokaran was killed, the Gauteng provincial legislature has adopted a motion that will ensure that her memory is immortalised in public service.
On Monday, the house agreed that it is important for Deokaran to be remembered, among other ways, by naming a building or government department after her to keep her legacy alive.
The motion was proposed by the DA’s Jack Bloom.
“The motion before us is more limited. It provides some options to honour her, but whatever is decided must be done in consultation with the family. It could be the naming of a facility or a department,” he said.
“It may be a personnel service award, or it could be a bursary fund, or something else. I am told that Babita was particularly affected by the plight of the mental patients in the Life Esidimeni tragedy, so it could relate to vulnerable groups in our health system.”
A transformed public service
Despite this, Bloom said the best tribute and legacy for Deokaran would be a completely transformed Gauteng health department.
“The family have stressed to me that honesty and integrity must always be associated with anything that bears Babita’s name,” he said.
Since the motion has been carried, the Gauteng department of health is now expected to engage with Deokaran’s family on the matter.
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Health MEC pays tribute to Deokaran
The MEC for health and wellness in Gauteng, Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, said her department had already begun honouring Deokaran at a ceremony at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital on Monday.
“Together we stand for all the men and women known and unknown who have chosen the fight against corruption rather than to be complicit in it.
“Yesterday (Monday), the Gauteng department of health honoured their legacy in a concrete way at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital. We unveiled their names alongside those colleagues who paid the ultimate price for standing up for wrongdoing in the hospitals in the newly established garden of heroes, a memorial park for staff who died in the line of duty.
“These names will live permanently in a space that symbolises service, sacrifice and hope for the province,” she said.
What happened to Babita Deokaran?
Before her death, Deokaran uncovered extensive corruption in the Gauteng department of health, including a network that siphoned off more than R1 billion through suspicious payments and fraudulent Covid-19 contracts and procurement irregularities for items such as luxury furniture.
Following her discovery, she notified her line manager, who was the CFO at the Gauteng department of health, that she feared for her life.
Syndicates and ANC comment
She was later killed not far from her house.
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has discovered several syndicates that are responsible for the looting of Tembisa Hospital. One of them belongs to Hangwani Maumele, a businessman linked to the ANC and President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Despite this, the ANC has distanced itself from the looting at Tembisa Hospital, claiming that it is officials who colluded with criminals to defraud the hospital.
“There is a hospital in Gauteng called Tembisa. Read that report. That report will tell you that the people messing up were the ones working there. The ANC is not involved there. Those criminals were stealing the hospital’s money,” he said.
The masterminds behind Deokaran’s death have not been found.
Speaking on behalf of Cosatu in Gauteng, Amos Monyela said the federation supports the initiative to honour Deokaran.
“Babita was an embodiment of anti-corruption and died in defence of resources for health services of the working class.
“She was a dedicated public servant who understood that she joined the public to serve the people through ensuring that there was accountability for the money allocated to service delivery.
“Such a person should be engraved in the history of dedicated and ethical public servants,” he said.
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