The DA has welcomed the plea bargain by the six accused linked to the murder of Babita Deokaran on August 23, 2021.
The DA’s Gauteng health spokesperson, Jack Bloom, said the six alleged assassins must reveal who gave the order to kill her.
“The Democratic Alliance is most concerned that the six men who have admitted guilt in the murder of whistle-blower Babita Deokaran should reveal who gave them the orders to kill her,” he said.
Bloom said he hopes the plea bargain will be accompanied by a detailed confession on the real culprits and reasons for her hit.
“I hope their plea deal includes as much information as possible about those who wanted to stop Babita uncovering massive corruption at the Tembisa Hospital and elsewhere.
“Anything less will be a travesty of justice and a blow to Babita’s family who are commemorating the second anniversary of her murder tomorrow,” Bloom said.
On Tuesday, the six accused pleaded guilty to Deokaran’s murder following their latest appearance before Gauteng High Court in Joburg.
Deokaran, a senior officer in the Gauteng Department of Health, was shot and killed in front of her home in Johannesburg.
She blew the whistle on corruption by flagging large-scale fraud linked to Tembisa Hospital in Gauteng. She had reported hundreds of millions of rand in questionable payments coming from Tembisa Hospital in the weeks before her death.
In December last year, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi admitted that Deokaran was killed for exposing R1 billion worth of irregular tenders issued at the Tembisa Hospital.
At the time, Lesufi asked the Hawks to speedily investigate and arrest the kingpins and put them on trial along with six others charged with her murder in the Gauteng High Court in Joburg.
Deokaran had implicated senior officials at the hospital, including top ANC politician Sello Sekhokho, among others.
Lesufi said a preliminary Special Investigative Unit (SIU) report found a link between Deokaran’s role in exposing 227 companies and her murder.
“The SIU report found that there were fraudulent activities at Tembisa Hospital after receiving information supplied by Deokaran, who was the whistle-blower.
“She compiled that forensic report, which exposed corruption at the hospital,” Lesufi said.