THE SHADOW STATE, why Babita Deokaran had to die

256pp., colour illus., paperback, Tafelberg, Cape Town, 2025

ISBN: 9780624094944

On 23 August 2021, Babita Deokaran was shot down outside her home in Mondeor, Johannesburg. In her role as Chief Director: Financial Accounting at the Gauteng Department of Health she had uncovered rampant corruption within the Gauteng provincial government and blew the whistle. Following the assassination, the Special Investigating Unit confirmed that Deokaran had been a key witness in a multi-million-rand fraud investigation linked to alleged improper COVID-19 personal protective equipment tenders.

The izinkabi (hitmen) paid to kill her were caught, tried and sentenced, but the question of who ordered her murder remains.

In his investigation into Deokaran's assassination Jeff Wicks examined over 60 000 e-mails and the contents of Deokran's cellphone, and visited numerous fake business addresses. The information he uncovered was shared in an online documentary series, Silenced, which led to further investigations and the suspension and charging of key officials and politicians.

Jeff Wicks is a journalist with News24’s investigations team based in Johannesburg. He is a two-time winner of the Taco Kuiper Award for Investigative Journalism and in 2024 was the recipient of the Nat Nakasa Award for courageous journalism. He is co-author (with Qaanitah Hunter and Kaveel Singh) of Eight Days in July, inside the Zuma unrest that set South African alight.