Cape Town - GOOD secretary Brett Herron has called on the country to protect whistle-blowers.
The anniversary of the death of Gauteng health official Babita Deokaran has prompted Herron to demand protection and support for those who dare to speak out against corruption.
This week marks a year since the assassination of Deokaran who exposed tender corruption in the Gauteng Health Department.
Deokaran was killed outside her Joburg home last August.
Herron said Deokaran should be “recognised as a national icon of integrity”.
“Her murder, following years of wanton corruption capped by the looting of the country’s Covid defences, plunged good South Africans hopeful for signs of long-promised resurrection, to new lows of horror and disbelief.
“Deokaran was a strong woman who swam in a sea of dishonesty, and paid the ultimate price for kicking against the tide of corruption and impunity,” Herron said.
Herron also questioned if those behind Deokaran’s killing would ever be brought to book.
“Given our criminal justice system’s track record over the past decade or two of conducting investigations and prosecutions with fear and favour according to ruling party whim, the full chain of command behind Deokaran’s murder may never be known,” Herron said.
Herron said this would be an indicator of the state of the nation’s values and systems.
“It also doesn’t augur well that it took nearly a year for Gauteng premier David Makhura to announce a probe, last week, into suspicious payments that Deokaran flagged relating to Tembisa Hospital.
“Makhura and the National Prosecuting Authority should know that South Africans are watching closely,” he said.
He has also called on the anniversary of Deokaran’s death to be an annual focal point for other whistle-blowers.
“Whistle-blowers have played a key role in South Africa and have done so taking great risks with very little to gain.
“A number of whistle-blowers who testified at the Zondo Commission faced the consequences in terms of losing their jobs and livelihoods for breaking the silence around State Capture,” Herron said.
Weekend Argus reported this week that some women who were at the centre of dismantling state capture had been deemed unemployable despite having the skills and proven integrity.
Herron said South Africa needed to do more to protect whistle-blowers.
“Not only for those who have already spoken out, but also for the future of whistle-blowers who could make a difference,” Herron said.