The Gauteng government has committed to assign independent forensic investigators to the Babita Deokaran’s case following damning allegations that over R800-million in suspected fraudulent deals were discovered and reported by the deceased.
In a statement on Monday, Gauteng premier David Makhura said his administration is treating the matter seriously and is finalising a process of appointing the forensic investigators to follow through the new allegations.
“While we are committed in ensuring decisive action against public servants that have been found to have failed in discharging their responsibilities in line with the Public Finance Management Act, we need to ensure that our actions are in line with the Public Services Act and other applicable prescripts,” said Makhura.
He further emphasised that the provincial government is strengthening control systems to avoid and deal with fraud and corruption.
“We are doing this while we are busy improving the capacity to detect, investigate and take appropriate action including instituting disciplinary action against staff, referring matters for criminal investigation, and initiating a process to recover losses incurred by the state.”
Deokaran was assassinated on the morning of August 23 2021 while she was returning home from dropping her daughter off at school. A vehicle pulled alongside her car and fired multiple shots after she had parked in front of her house in the south of Johannesburg.
Her assassination caused an uproar given her status as an anti-corruption whistleblower and the lack of protection afforded to her by the government.
A neighbour informed the police that he had seen a suspicious BMW at the murder location multiple times before the killing. The information helped the law-enforcement agencies to trace the vehicle to a former member of the SA National Defence Force living in Pretoria and resulted in the arrest of six suspects.
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