Babita Deokaran assassination: GP govt tightens procurement, supply chain management policies

JOHANNESBURG - Three years after the assassination of whistleblower Babita Deokaran, the Gauteng government says it has taken measures to strengthen procurement and review the supply chain management (SCM) policy.

The former Chief Director for Financial Accounting at the Gauteng Department of Health was gunned down outside her home in 2021 - amid her expose of corruption at a Gauteng hospital.

While six men were sentenced a year ago to prison terms ranging from six to 22 years for the murder, the people who orchestrated it are still unknown.

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The spokesperson for the Gauteng provincial government - Vuyo Mhaga - said Babita’s death highlighted the urgency to tighten compliance processes and enforce ethical governance in the public sector.

“These measures include: procurement at the health department that is between R500,000 and R1 million must be reviewed by Gauteng provincial treasury before purchase orders are issued. A new Request For Quote (RFQ) pre-compliance checklist has been introduced to ensure adherence with SCM processes, while quotation adjudication committees have been established in each health facility for oversight on procurement between R2,001 and R1 million.”