Angry Mkhize demands answers after his name was dragged into the investigation of the murder of whistle-blower Babita Deokaran

CAPE TOWN - Former Health Minister Dr Zweli Mkhize has demanded answers from the authorities as to how his name was dragged into the murder investigation of senior Gauteng Health official and corruption whistle-blower Babita Deokaran.

This was after one of the six accused in the murder revealed he was allegedly beaten and coerced by the police into implicating Mkhize.

Mkhize said he was “shocked and saddened to learn” that his name had been dragged into the case.

Durban-born Deokaran was shot dead outside her Winchester Hills home in Johannesburg on August 23.

She was a key whistle-blower in an investigation into dodgy multimillion-ran personal protective equipment (PPE) contracts in Gauteng.

The PPE scandal resulted in the suspension of Gauteng Health MEC Dr Bandile Masuku and former presidential spokesperson Khusela Diko.

“I have instructed my lawyers to write to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) to investigate the circumstances surrounding the extraction and acceptance into evidence of the reported ‘confession’, whose value could only have been to cause me political embarrassment,” Mkhize said.

He added that it should be remembered that these alleged procurement irregularities took place at a provincial level, far away from the national sphere of government where he was deployed as the minister of Health.

“I would like to take this opportunity to assure Ms Deokaran’s family and all South Africans who are still reeling from the trauma of this callous crime that I have absolutely nothing to do with it, nor (with) the alleged procurement irregularities which are believed to have driven it,” Mkhize said.

Media reports revealed that Phakamani Hadebe, 29, has distanced himself from a “false confession” in which he implicated Mkhize. He described the confession as a "figment of his imagination" that came after hours of alleged torture following his arrest.

In his affidavit, Hadebe said after he was arrested he was taken to Turffontein Racecourse where he was put in a secluded place before he was assaulted as he was told about someone who had been killed a few days earlier in Mondeor.

Hadebe alleged he was told that a policeman would arrive the following day to take his confession, and he was allegedly warned that should he not co-operate, he would be harmed.

He further told the court that a senior ANC figure had not hired him to commit the offence, and he challenged the State to bring evidence to support this allegation. “I challenge the State to produce CCTV footage of me visiting the mall and meeting Dr Mkhize”.

Cape Times