The sentencing of Babita Deokaran’s killers in the high court in Johannesburg on Tuesday is an important step in the quest for justice but certainly not the end.
Deokaran, 53, was callously assassinated after she uncovered widespread corruption in tenders worth R1bn at the Tembisa Hospital. She was a senior finance official in the department of health in Gauteng when she was murdered.
On Tuesday, six men accused of her murder – Phakamani Hadebe, Nhlangano Ndlovu, Sanele Mbhele, Siphakanyiswa Dladla, Zitha Radebe and Siphiwe Mazibuko – pleaded guilty to their heinous crime after entering into a plea agreement with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
According to NPA spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane, the state is now pursuing people who were mentioned by the accused, placing them at the scene of the crime including those who recruited the killers.
Worryingly Mjonondwane concedes they are still following up on the three people who were mentioned by the assassins but are yet to be traced. This casts doubt on the state’s motives for the bargained justice. Was it convenience, costs or lack of conviction in the evidence gathered that it would prove their case against the six men beyond a reasonable doubt?
Whatever the reasons were that motivated the NPA to go down this route, questions will remain as to why the state chose not to put their case to test in court instead of opting for the bargained justice.
This is because plea bargains offend the principle of open justice in their nature. The public is denied an opportunity to know what was discussed between the lawyers of the accused and the prosecution teams to arrive at this decision.
The NPA says it is confident that the six men made “full disclosures of their involvement” in the killing of Deokaran and that this will help them trace the mastermind who ordered her hit. But how can we trust that this will be the case when it has taken so long, and the mastermind is yet to be arrested or known? After ignoring the huge public interest in the matter when entering into the plea, the NPA cannot expect the same public to repay it with faith.
It is therefore justifiable that some may be dismayed by this decision. Plea agreements cannot become a standard method of resolving serious crimes such as Deokaran’s killing.
SOWETAN | Plea deal in Deokaran case offends open justice
State’s motives for the bargain could be questioned
Image: Thulani Mbele
The sentencing of Babita Deokaran’s killers in the high court in Johannesburg on Tuesday is an important step in the quest for justice but certainly not the end.
Deokaran, 53, was callously assassinated after she uncovered widespread corruption in tenders worth R1bn at the Tembisa Hospital. She was a senior finance official in the department of health in Gauteng when she was murdered.
On Tuesday, six men accused of her murder – Phakamani Hadebe, Nhlangano Ndlovu, Sanele Mbhele, Siphakanyiswa Dladla, Zitha Radebe and Siphiwe Mazibuko – pleaded guilty to their heinous crime after entering into a plea agreement with the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
According to NPA spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane, the state is now pursuing people who were mentioned by the accused, placing them at the scene of the crime including those who recruited the killers.
Worryingly Mjonondwane concedes they are still following up on the three people who were mentioned by the assassins but are yet to be traced. This casts doubt on the state’s motives for the bargained justice. Was it convenience, costs or lack of conviction in the evidence gathered that it would prove their case against the six men beyond a reasonable doubt?
Whatever the reasons were that motivated the NPA to go down this route, questions will remain as to why the state chose not to put their case to test in court instead of opting for the bargained justice.
This is because plea bargains offend the principle of open justice in their nature. The public is denied an opportunity to know what was discussed between the lawyers of the accused and the prosecution teams to arrive at this decision.
The NPA says it is confident that the six men made “full disclosures of their involvement” in the killing of Deokaran and that this will help them trace the mastermind who ordered her hit. But how can we trust that this will be the case when it has taken so long, and the mastermind is yet to be arrested or known? After ignoring the huge public interest in the matter when entering into the plea, the NPA cannot expect the same public to repay it with faith.
It is therefore justifiable that some may be dismayed by this decision. Plea agreements cannot become a standard method of resolving serious crimes such as Deokaran’s killing.
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