Babita Deokaran’s family is calling for more arrests in connection with her killing, saying justice will only be done when the mastermind is behind bars.

Deokaran was assassinated on 23 August 2021 after blowing the whistle on massive fraud and corruption at the Tembisa Hospital in Ekurhuleni.

She died in a hail of bullets outside her complex in Winchester Hills in the south of Johannesburg, after dropping her daughter off at school.

In 2023, six men charged with her murder were sentenced to between six and 22 years in prison.

Her brother Rakesh Deokaran says her decision to expose a network of tender fraud worth hundreds of millions of rands showed her integrity.

“I was vocal about it from day one, those hitmen never hired themselves, all we want and waiting for is the mastermind irrespective how many were involved. That is all we want.”

Meanwhile, civil society movement Defend Our Democracy is calling for more accountability.

The movement’s Executive Director Naledi Kuali says, “There is a need to probe further, there is a need for the truth to come out, that is the call, to say that it is not something that is going to be forgotten. It is not something that will go quietly into that good night.”

“She died and she died at the instruction of someone. She died at the behest of someone. They need to be held accountable for taking away from South Africa such a dedicated public servant,” explains Kuali.