Babita Deokaran's family sounded the alarm — now another whistleblower lies dead
Slain whistleblower Babita Deokaran
Image: Supplied
THE family of slain whistleblower Babita Deokaran is devastated and angered that, despite repeated pleas for better protection of those who expose corruption, yet another innocent life has been taken.
On Friday evening, Marius van der Merwe, known as Witness D at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, was ambushed and killed outside his home in Brenthurst, Brakpan, shortly after returning from dinner with his wife. His assassination has once again drawn urgent attention to the vulnerability of whistleblowers in South Africa.
Deokaran, a mother of one, was gunned down outside her home in Winchester Hills, Johannesburg, on August 23, 2021. At the time, the 53-year-old chief director of financial accounting at the Gauteng Department of Health was assisting investigators probing a PPE tender scandal that had rocked the department.
Pastor Tony Haripersadh, Deokaran’s brother-in-law, said Van der Merwe showed great courage by testifying in the hope that exposing corruption would help secure justice.
“Instead, he, like Babita, paid with his life. The outcry from families, the public, and various organisations calling for stronger protection of whistleblowers has fallen on deaf ears,” he said.
“Marius van der Merwe has been failed. It is heartbreaking that his family must now endure the loss of a father, a husband, and a loved one. We are deeply saddened by his assassination and extend our condolences to the Van der Merwe family.”
Haripersadh described the killing as a tragic blow to justice. “The world is watching. These murders seem to be taken lightly, and the perpetrators are rarely prosecuted. We must continue the fight for freedom against the corruption that is so widespread in South Africa, or it will only persist,” he said.