Family remembers whistleblower Babita Deokaran a year after her murder

Emotional scenes unfolded outside Babita Deokaran’s home on Tuesday morning, as her loved ones gathered to pay homage to the whistleblower a year after she was murdered at the same spot.

August 23 marks exactly one year since Deokaran, a senior official with the Gauteng Department of Health, was assassinated.

She was returning home after dropping her daughter at school when gunmen opened fire on her outside her complex in Mondeor, south Johannesburg.

To mark the day, her family from across the country visited the scene and laid flowers.

It was an emotional morning for Babita Deokaran’s family.

They gathered wearing T-shirts with her picture and the words ‘Justice for Babita’ on them.

Her sisters wept quietly as two bunches of flowers were placed at the gate to her complex.

Her brother-in-law, Tony Haripersadh, addressed members of the press who had also gathered there.

“it is a very hard day for our family to come to terms with the fact that she had to lose her life in such a gruesome way. And it shows us we are living in a country that is so messed up that even people that live for integrity and honesty – that fight corruption – their lives are not safe,” Haripersadh said.

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse also staged a picket at the scene on Tuesday morning.

Later this evening, the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation will be hosting a memorial for Deokaran.