WATCH | Courageous whistleblower Deokaran honoured

A memorial statue honouring the courage and sacrifice of slain whistleblower Babita Deokaran was on Sunday unveiled at the Shri Marriamen Temple near her home suburb of Mount Edgecombe, north of Durban. Deokaran was assassinated outside her Johannesburg home in August 2021 after uncovering evidence of widespread corruption and procurement irregularities in the Gauteng Department of Health’s Tembisa Hospital while the department’s CFO. At the unveiling, family members, civil society leaders, government leaders and members of the general public saluted Deokaran for her unflinching stance against corruption.

Deokaran’s niece Krishna Ramlal said the family was proud that she sacrificed her life to ensure government funds were used to help the poor access health services rather than enrich a corrupt few. “She believed that public service was just that – service to the public. She was fighting for people she was probably never going to meet one day,” she said.

While the monument – which was unveiled at the more than 103-year-old Shri Mariammen Temple Heritage Site in Mount Edgecombe- was a source of pride for the family, Ramlal said Deokaran was a humble person who would not have demanded to be honoured for what she believed was “her duty”. “She was a simple person who never believed in being the centre of attention,” she said. After flagging corrupt practices within the hospital, Deokaran subsequently shared her findings with the Special Investigating Unit (SIU). Three of the companies awarded contracts were linked to tenderpreneur and alleged criminal kingpin Vusimuzi Matlala.