Accountability needed for botched investigation into Babita Deokaran’s murder
24 October 2023
The appointment of new Hawks investigators into the murder of whistleblower Babita Deokaran shows the initial investigation was botched and crucial evidence has been lost.
According to a report, the new team is seeking information from the three cellphones of taxi boss Khanyisani Mpungose, who was named as a mastermind by the six men who were recently jailed for her killing.
Mpungose was initially questioned but released because his firearm could not be linked to the crime. Unfortunately, the police neglected to download information from his cellphones when he was in custody, and he was murdered in a taxi feud a few months later.
According to the plea bargain of the six men, Mpungose and an unknown person fired 11 shots at Babita’s car, and he was “clearly acting on behalf of other unknown persons.”