Deokaran case delayed

DENIED BAIL: SUSPECTS HAVE APPOINTED NEW LEGAL REPRESENTATIVES

Officials suspended for tenders flagged by slain whistle-blower.

The six men accused of killing whistle-blower Babita Deokaran will be back in the dock next month. Phakamani Hadebe, Zitha Hadebe, Nhlangano Ndlovu, Sanele Mbhele, Simphiwe Mazibuko and Phakanyiswa Dladla made another appearance in the High Court in Joburg yesterday.

Their case had been postponed in August due to legal fees being unpaid.

At the time, the defence also indicated it was waiting for a forensic report before the trial could get underway

Yesterday, the court heard that the suspects, denied bail last year, have acquired new legal representation, which included an attorney and two advocates.

The matter was then postponed to 18 November.

The six men face charges of murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and possession of unlicensed firearm and ammunition.

The accused previously made various confessions and admissions following their arrests, including that they were apparently acting at the behest of former health minister Zweli Mkhize.

However, they later confessed to giving false statements and claimed they were tortured while in custody.

Deokaran was gunned down outside her complex in Mondeor, south of Joburg, in August 2021, shortly after dropping off her child at school.

She later died in hospital. The 53-year-old Deokaran was a high-ranking official in the financial division of the Gauteng department of health and a key witness in several corruption investigations by the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) related to the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the province.

She had flagged numerous dodgy payments from Tembisa Hospital totalling R850 million to various contractors in the weeks leading up to her killing.

The Gauteng provincial government announced in August it was finalising the process of appointing an independent forensic investigator to look into allegations pertaining to the case of Deokaran.

Meanwhile, provincial health department chief financial officer Lerato Madyo and Tembisa Hospital chief executive Ashley Mthunzi have since been suspended in connection with the R850 million tenders scandal. – news@citizen.co.za