Five years after whistleblower Babita Deokaran was murdered for exposing corruption at Tembisa Hospital, the State has stripped one of the scheme's alleged masterminds of four Lamborghinis, a Bentley and luxury properties worth R326m - a rare victory in the long fight against State Capture.

"Morning CFO, I am just worried that the guys in Tembisa are going to realise we are not releasing payments and know that we are on to something. Our lives could be in danger," said slain Gauteng health department official Babita Deokaran.

The WhatsApp to her supervisor Lerato Madyo in 2021, weeks before she died, is reported in Jeff Wicks' book, The Shadow State - Why Babita Deokaran had to die. It revealed Deokaran was on to a Tembisa Hospital extraction scheme, where tenderpreneurs set up companies and won tenders at just under R500,000, the amount above which stricter conditions apply.

While six men have been convicted of the hit on the whistleblower, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on Monday put another nail in the coffin of Babita's soft vengeance, where society has been galvanised into action.

Keep up with the latest headlines on WhatsApp | LinkedIn

Wicks doggedly followed the story and put together the forensic trail; the criminal justice system followed up for Deokaran, convicting the gunmen. Five years after her murder on the morning of 23 August 2021 in the south of Johannesburg, the work continues.

FOR CONTEXT Babita Deokaran, Jeff Wicks and the cost of exposing corruption August 26, 2025 On...