JOHANNESBURG “Hero, Patriot”: South African President On Killed Indian-Origin Graft Witness

JOHANNESBURG “Hero, Patriot”: South African President On Killed Indian-Origin Graft Witness

JOHANNESBURG: South African President Cyril
Ramaphosa has hailed an Indian-origin woman, who was killed allegedly for
providing critical information about a multi-million-Dollar PPE fraud during
COVID-19 lockdown in the country last year, as a “hero and patriot”.

Babita
Deokaran, 53, who was a senior official at the Gauteng provincial Department of
Health, was shot multiple times through her car door when she returned home in
a Johannesburg suburb after dropping her child at school on August 23. She was
rushed to hospital where she died of her injuries.

She was a
key witness in the investigations into a more than 330 million rand (over USD
20 million) fraud into the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) during
the COVID-19 lockdown in South Africa last year.

The scam
was unearthed at the Department of Health in Gauteng province, where she had
been appointed as acting chief financial director last year to assist in the
investigation.

“Regardless
of the circumstances behind this tragedy, Ms Deokaran was a hero and a
patriot,” Ramaphosa said.

“(Her
murder) is a stark reminder of the high stakes involved in our collective quest
to remove this cancer from our society.

“While
we do not yet know the motive for her murder, she was a key witness in a SIU
(Serious Crime Investigation Unit) investigation into the procurement of
personal protective equipment in the department,” Ramaphosa said.

He said
that day by day, brave South Africans like Deokaran are standing firm that they
will not be party to corruption and they are prepared to bear witness against
it.

Meanwhile,
two men were arrested on Thursday in the case. Six others were arrested last
week in connection with the incident.

Giving
details of the arrest of the additional two suspects, Police Minister Bheki
Cele said the suspects would have to account for where the large amounts of
cash that was found in their cars came from.

“The
story was that it was an expensive exercise, where people were getting a lot of
money each to pull the mission of killing Babita,” Cele said.

The six
suspects have been charged with murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit
murder and possession of unlicensed firearms.

The
matter has been postponed till September 13.

Investigators
said a woman, who was in the car with Deokaran when she was killed, was
unharmed but has been moved into a “safe place” as a critical
witness.

Tony
Haripersad, Ms Deokaran’s brother-in-law, earlier told media that the witness,
whose identity is being protected, was traumatised and afraid, but had made a
statement to detectives.

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