Babita Deokaran: Botched investigation sparks scrutiny

A new team of Hawks investigators taking over the case of murdered whistleblower Babita Deokaran has unexpectedly raised concerns about a ‘botched’ initial inquiry.

Jack Bloom, the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Shadow Health MEC, has cast a spotlight on the new team’s activities, according to IOL News/The Saturday Star.

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As per a report, the investigators are actively seeking data from three cell phones owned by taxi boss Khanyisani Mpungose. He was named a mastermind by the six recently convicted for Deokaran’s tragic murder.

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‘BOTCHED’ INVESTIGATION INTO BABITA DEOKARAN’S MURDER

Mpungose, who was initially interrogated and then set free, faced a terrible end a few months later in a taxi dispute.

What’s crucial, as Bloom emphasised, is that the police didn’t retrieve information from Mpungose’s cellphones while he was in custody.

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The six convicted men, as part of a plea bargain agreement, revealed that Mpungose and an unknown person shot 11 times at Deokaran’s car.

This suggests they acted for other unknown individuals, but the frustration arises from the lost cellphones.

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FURTHER REVELATIONS ABOUT BABITA DEOKARAN BROUGHT TO LIGHT

Another troubling aspect of the investigation was the neglect to analyse Babita Deokaran’s cellphone and laptop.

“When the Gauteng Department of Community Safety faced inquiries in the Gauteng Legislature, they sidestepped these concerns, invoking the ‘sensitive nature of the matter’ and a perceived ‘serious threat’ to the investigator.”

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The department, however, denies there were any shortcomings in the investigation of this case.

SHOT AND KILLED AFTER BABITA DEOKARAN BLEW THE WHISLTE ON ALLEGED FRAUD

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The 53-year-old Deokaran was shot and killed on 23 August 2021 after she blew the whistle on alleged fraud and corruption at Tembisa Hospital.

She was shot multiple times in the upper body. The official, who had just dropped her child off at school before the shooting, later died in the hospital in the afternoon.