Mvume Ndima reflects on the Tembisa Hospital corruption scandal, the murder of whistleblower Babita Deokaran, and South Africa’s fight for accountability.
Corruption and politics go hand in hand, whenever public funds (aka our money) are managed, it’s almost guaranteed that there will be some money that comes up missing, it’s a given at this stage.
We all see politicians for what they are in this country, public servants who serve their own interests at the expense of the public. But every now and then a story comes out that beggars belief. We sit slack jawed and in awe at the amount of our money being spent on things that don’t actually benefit us as the public and the Tembisa Hospital scandal is one of those unbelievable story.
For those of you who are not familar, this story begins back in 2021 when the CFO of the department of health in Gauteng was gunned down outside her home at around 08:00. At the time of the murder, the CFO, one Babita Deokaran, may her soul rest in peace, was in the process of reporting major maladministration and corruption at the Tembisa Hospital in particular.
The Whistleblower Who Paid the Ultimate Price
The details of the murder itself are anything but murky, 6 suspects were arrested and sentenced to a combined 95 years of imprisonment, this was no accident or random act of violence, rather it was a mob-style hit, a literal drive-by shooting where the victim was only doing their job, attempting to help our government stomp out corruption, something president Ramaphosa built an entire campaign around, and just like that… She is no more.
Further details create an even broader picture here, these 6 men did not act alone, they weren’t random murderers out to kill an old lady, they were hired hitmen, and they said as much during the court proceedings, claiming a former member of the South African National Defense Force as one of their co-conspirators. The numbers of R400 000.00 and R2 000 000.00 were given as potential fees they charged for the act of killing this woman and looking at the names on the docket, it is quite clear to me that these men are all South African citizens, not a foreigner among them.
Reports tell a story that spans over a few weeks, where a BMW was seen stalking the home of Babita for around a month, once the attackers had gathered enough information it was time to move, and when it was time to move, the CCTV camera footage in the surrounding area suddenly stopped working, not just one location, the entire area somehow lost connection simultaneously, allowing the killers to escape briefly.
Statements from witnesses of the BMW and the actual shooting itself allowed the SIU to finally make the arrests and get the convictions for these 6 men, but that’s not justice is it?
The Real Criminals Are Still Out There
The hitmen who actually perpetrated the act deserve the time they get in prison, but someone was on the other side of that R400k or R2m offer for the life of this woman, there’s a kingpin who completely avoided accountability here, and the most recent news shows us nothing but royal blue supercars, and that to me is suspicious.
Apart from the Democratic Alliance (who are nothing but a bunch of snitches anyway) the silence from our major political parties who promised to stamp out corruption, who sang for those who stole to “pay back the money”, the parties who ran to America to beg for big daddy Trump to help them are all silent… and it’s loud. Extremely loud.
I’ve mentioned in passing that I don’t believe politicians should be allowed to have private security details (as a representative of the people of this nation, it doesn’t really jive with me that you are hiring big strong men to make sure that I can’t have access to you).
But if anyone deserves special protection, it should be the few brave souls who stand up and say something when they see corruption or see state owned entities being looted before their eyes, that woman didn’t deserve to die like that, it shouldn’t have been that easy and if the real point of creating these whistleblower hotlines is to effect real change, you’d think they would make it a little harder for the people you’re blowing the whistle on to silence you.
And this is precisely why I tell you guys that I’ll come back and tell you more about certain things when I’m properly financially insulated. Because it is so easy to get murdered in this country as a normal citizen, when you start speaking out about people who are more… let’s say “connected” than you are, then death is almost a guarantee.
The fact that when we Google this incident we are greeted by a handful of royal blue super-cars that no average South African could afford to buy if they lived 2000 years, one name seems to be thrown to the court of public opinion like fishermen chumming the water, and as someone who’s seen a lot of “fall guys” presented to the public as the real mastermind behind some nefarious acts, this Maumela gentlemen looks to be the falliest guy I’ve seen in a long time.
And that, for me, is the spookiest part.
Either way, we at the 041 Online Magazine send our condolences to Babita’s family, we are eternally grateful for her bravery and sacrifice for the good of our country, she is truly a South African hero and if we had a few more good men and women like her in government, who knows what this nation could become.
We will watch the case unfold along with you, our loyal readers, but sadly, I fear this will end how it always does, with a few useful idiots behind bars and the real hidden hand getting better and smarter at hiding the theft.
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