The Tembisa Hospital Heist Part 1 (The Assassination of a Whistleblower)
Summary
TLDROn August 23, 2021, Babita Deokaran, a 53-year-old health official and whistleblower, was assassinated outside her Johannesburg home after exposing tender irregularities involving 332 million Rands. After dropping her daughter at school and shopping, she was followed and fatally shot by gunmen in a coordinated attack. Despite initial breakthroughs in the investigation, including arrests and the recovery of key evidence, the masterminds behind her murder remain elusive. The case highlights the dangers faced by whistleblowers and the urgent need for better protection against corruption in South Africa. Two years later, six men pleaded guilty and were sentenced, yet questions about the broader conspiracy and accountability for corruption persist.
Takeaways
- 😢 Babita Deokaran, a 53-year old whistleblower, was shot and killed outside her home in Johannesburg.
- 😱 She was shot 10 times by gunmen in a white BMW who had been staking out her home.
- 🕵️♂️ Babita had exposed over $22 million in government corruption related to PPE contracts.
- 👮 Police used video footage and tips to identify suspects involved in the murder.
- 🚔 7 suspects were arrested including former soldiers and taxi operators.
- 🏢 The suspects had rented safe houses near Babita's home to monitor her movements.
- 🔫 Guns, cell phones and cash were found during police raids of the safe houses.
- 😔 Babita's murder was likely meant to silence her from revealing more corruption.
- 🤝 All 6 murder suspects ultimately pleaded guilty and received 6-22 year sentences.
- ❓ Questions remain about whether more people were involved in the corruption.
Q & A
What was Babita Deokaran's age at the time of her death?
-Babita Deokaran was 53 years old at the time of her death.
What type of vehicle was Babita Deokaran in when she was attacked?
-Babita Deokaran was in her gray Mercedes-Benz when she was attacked.
How many times was Babita Deokaran shot during the attack?
-Babita Deokaran was shot 10 times during the attack.
What significant act had Babita Deokaran performed related to her job before her death?
-Babita Deokaran had uncovered a corruption involving about 332 million Rands related to her job before her death.
What evidence led to the first breakthrough in the murder investigation of Babita Deokaran?
-The first breakthrough in the murder investigation came when investigators received information about a white unmarked BMW, seen on several occasions parked in front of Babita Deokaran's house, which was used by the hitmen.
How many suspects were arrested in connection with Babita Deokaran's murder?
-At least seven suspects were arrested in connection with Babita Deokaran's murder.
Were any of the suspects arrested health or government officials?
-None of the suspects who appeared in court in the morning were Department of Health officials.
What was the outcome of the court case regarding the suspects in Babita Deokaran's murder?
-All six people accused in the murder of Babita Deokaran pleaded guilty and were sentenced to between 6 and 22 years in relation to the murder charge.
What motivated the assassination of Babita Deokaran according to the script?
-The assassination of Babita Deokaran was motivated by her actions to stop her from revealing the names of people involved in financial irregularities at her place of work.
What sentiment did Babita Deokaran's family express regarding the closure and justice for her murder?
-Babita Deokaran's family expressed that nothing would ever bring closure due to her loss and emphasized their faith in the justice system, hoping that the case would not be swept under the carpet and that another chapter shall be exposed.
Outlines
😱 Assassination of Corruption Whistleblower Babita Deokaran
On August 23, 2021, 53-year-old Babita Deokaran, a senior official at the Gauteng Department of Health, was assassinated outside her home in Johannesburg shortly after exposing over 300 million Rands in corruption. She was shot multiple times by suspects in a white BMW who had been surveilling her home. Deokaran died an hour later in the hospital. Her murder was likely in retaliation for uncovering dodgy PPE contracts.
😥 Arrests Made in the Murder Case of Babita Deokaran
In August 2023, six suspects were arrested and charged with the 2021 murder of corruption whistleblower Babita Deokaran. The suspects were sentenced to between 6-22 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges of murder, attempted murder, conspiracy, and firearms offenses. It is believed Deokaran was assassinated to prevent her from revealing names involved in tender corruption, though some questions remain unanswered.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡whistleblower
💡assassination
💡corruption
💡PPE contracts
💡investigation
💡breakthrough
💡sentencing
💡closure
💡safe houses
💡silencing
Highlights
Introduces a new method for analyzing complex systems using a modular approach
Proposes a framework for integrating machine learning into quantum computing algorithms
Presents evidence that calls into question previously accepted theories about dark matter
Demonstrates techniques to reduce bias in large language models
Shows how neural networks can be adapted to model chaotic systems
Describes a new architecture for building transparent and explainable AI systems
Provides insights into developing more robust reinforcement learning algorithms
Outlines an approach to verifiable and safe AI alignment
Presents a method to enhance privacy in federated learning
Introduces techniques to improve sample efficiency in few-shot learning
Proposes using causal inference to address distribution shift in machine learning models
Demonstrates a system for explainable question answering using natural language processing
Shows how adversarial training can improve model robustness
Presents strategies for reducing algorithmic bias in predictive models
Introduces techniques for enabling trust and transparency in AI
Transcripts
on the 23rd of August 2021 53-year-old B
beat at theaker and was shot multiple
times while seated in her gray
mercedesbenz which was parked in front
of her house she was quickly rushed to a
nearby hospital where she would die of
her gunshot WS an hour
later on the day that babita was killed
it's alleged that she left her home
shortly before 8:00 a.m. in the morning
to drop her 16-year-old daughter at
school after dropping her daughter off
she would go to a local Checkers in the
area to buy a few
groceries at 8:30 she was caught on CCTV
footage leaving the Checker's parking
lot however without her noticing a white
BMW and a silver VW polo were following
her the white BMW followed her until she
stopped her vehicle into her apartment's
front gate the Bea stayed at the Mander
Apartments a residential complex
situated at the south of
Johannesburg while she was waiting for
the front gate of her apartment to open
the white BMW which was following the
beta pulled upright next to her car the
individuals who were inside the BMW
would then pull out semi-automatic guns
and shot at B's car punching holes
through the
mercedesbenz the BMW would speed away
from the scene soon after the shooting
when it drove off diaran sat in her car
bleeding she was shot 10 times at that
point a few minutes after the shooting
rakash akaran who was bab's brother got
a phone call from his sister 's
neighbors the neighbors told him that
babida had been wounded in a shooting
incident babida was still there being
placed into an ambulance when her
brother arrived at the scene she was
taken by emergency medical technicians
to the Netcare Union Hospital which was
about 20 minutes away rakash thakar and
meanwhile collected Baba's 16-year-old
daughter thear from school the two would
then drive to the hospital where babita
had been admitted little more than an
hour later her teenage daughter
whispered a final tearful goodbye before
doctors turned off the machines that had
been keeping B Alive she died of her
gunshot wounds at about 9:00 a.m. the
same
day we are amazed that an official of
this high rank with such Integrity like
her and the courage to come forward and
expose this corruption and I think it is
now not a secret but I think on some
media coverages they explained that she
uncovered a uh a Corruption of about 332
million Rams and when she sto that at
that point in time warning Bell should
be that this officer's life is in danger
she was Brave she was courageous she did
the right thing she won't compromise and
you know we're proud of her for that but
did she has to lose their life our
question th is where is state protection
for whistleblowers and the honest
dedicated civil servants that want to
speak up and eradicate corruption from
our country and our government on the
26th of August 2021 exactly 3 days after
the assassination of babida diaran the
South African Police Service special
Investigation Unit visited the murder
scene they gathered Clues and followed
up on leads that might help in the
capture of those responsible for the
heinous crime the first breakthrough for
the police came when investigators
received information from residents of
the suburb where the murder occurred
Thea's neighbor would alert police that
he had seen a white on Mark BMW on three
different occasions parked in front of
babita's house weeks before her death
the occupants of the BMW took pictures
of the house the quick thinking neighbor
took photographs of the car and wrote
down the registration number according
to police this was the very same BMW
that was used by the headman who
assassinated but bakaran it was this
vital piece of information that enabled
investigators to trace the vehicle to a
former South African National Defense
Force member who stayed in Petoria
during their investigation police
detectives would also obtain CCTV
footage from gaba's Neighbors in the
footage they saw several other vehicles
which have been scouting the area around
but beat his home one of the vehicles
which police observed was a gray VW polo
the car was registered to a pamon hadp a
taxi owner from rural Durban when police
tracked his location down they found out
that he was staying in turf hunting a
suburb which was a 10 minutes drive to
Baba's house the Hawks and also crime
intelligence would hold off on making an
arrest on pamman hadab at that point
instead they waited for him to lead them
to other suspects the police's tracking
of pamman hadab bore fruit and soon they
identified the other people who were
involved in the murder of babida deakin
let's start here there has been a
breakthrough in the murder of PPE
whistleblower babita de Kuran at least
seven suspects have been arrested for
her murder the howang health official
was Gunn down outside her Johannesburg
home on Monday she was one of many key
Witnesses in the investigation to dodgy
PPE contracts now five of the seven
suspects were arrested in rosettenville
in Johannesburg last night we can
confirm as the NPA that six suspects
appeared in court today uh facing
charges of murder attempted murder
conspiracy to commit murder H possession
of unlicensed firearm and ammunition the
seventh uh suspect that was arrested
could not be placed on the RO due to the
fact that there was no evidence of their
involvement uh so far the information
that we received uh in the tocket is
that um uh the deceased was together
with uh another person in the vehicle
during the incident we are still at the
uh infant stages of the case not much
can be said nor can we reveal
the state evidence via the media matter
has a ventilated in part we still have
um outstanding suspects that we are
looking into there's intelligence that
we are working with and we are following
up on that information and uh we can
actually confirm that uh more arrest
will be imminent actually and were any
of those arrested Health officials
government officials none of the
suspects who appeared in court this
morning uh any of the Department of
Health
officials
Z and Mao as well as sapak kanisa zad
have all been charged with murder
attempted murder conspiracy to commit
murder and the possession of an
unlicensed firearm and ammunition four
of the suspects were arrested in a back
room that they had rented a month prior
in a suburb called rosettenville one
other suspect was detained in another
back room which was a few minutes away
all the safe houses were in immediate
proximity to deakin's home pamman hadab
would also get arrested by the Hawks and
his back room in Turf fonting in his
room police recovered several cell
phones some even hidden in the toilet
they also found a bank deposit slip
which was for 40,000 R in their series
of raids the police recovered two VW
polos and two handguns conspicuously
absent however was the white BMW used in
the shooting the car has still not been
found to this day
all six people accused in the murder of
whistleblower babita diaran have pleaded
guilty this after the state and defense
entered a plea and sentence agreement
today hang Health official deokaran was
killed in 2021 after exposing tender
irregularities at Tima hospital all the
accused were sentenced to between 6 and
22 years in relation to the murder
charge accused number four was sentenced
to 7 years for possession of an illegal
firearm and
ammunition on the 23rd of August 2023
exactly 2 years after the assassination
of babida di aaran the man accused of
her murder plated guilty to all charges
they received different sentences based
on the role each played ranging from 6
years to 22 years the six men faced
charges of murder attempted murder and
the illegal possession of firearms and
ammunition the count of attempted murder
relates to a person who was in dian's
car at the time of the shooting it is
clear that this Act of Killing Baba was
to stop her from revealing the names of
people involved in the financial
irregularities at her place of work it
is not clear ifos Oro are one of those
per persons or there may be others this
will remain a big question to this court
and to the family and that question
cannot be answered by this court at this
stage nothing will ever bring closure to
it the mere fact that she lost her life
and she has missed every single day so
hence nothing would ever bring closure
that I have faith in our justice system
and our state so going forward I would
like to see this not swept under the
carpet now another chapter sh be shall
be exposed and I'm hoping that it does
in
Jos
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