Cyril Ramaphosa tightens fist against graft amid calls for his exit

Ignoring calls for his exit, Ramaphosa urged whistleblowers to utilise the witness protection programme in reaction to the murder of Babita Deokaran.

By / / Viral
cyril ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa, amid growing calls for his resignation, has doubled down on his intention to put an end to corruption.

The president made these remarks in reaction to the cold-blooded murder of Babita Deokaran, a 53-year-old Gauteng Health Department senior official who was at the centre of an ongoing Special Investigating Unit (SIU) tender fraud case.

Cyril Ramaphosa issues warning to corrupt cronies

In his weekly letter to South Africans, Ramaphosa becried the death of Deokaran, who was killed outside of her Winchester Hills home on Monday 23 August.

Seven suspects have since been arrested and charged with her murder and while no connection has formerly been made between the killing and her involvement in an SIU tender fraud case. Ramaphosa could not ignore the coincidence.

“Regardless of the circumstances behind this tragedy, Ms Deokaran was a hero and a patriot. As are the legions of whistleblowers who, at great risk to themselves, help to unearth instances of misdeeds, maladministration, cronyism and theft,” he wrote.

The president urged whistleblowers to utilise resources like the witness protection programme to avoid the brutal fate that met Deokaran last week.

“It is clear that as the fight against corruption gathers momentum, we need to urgently review our current approach not only to witness protection, but also to the broader protection of whistleblowers,” he said.

‘Ramaphosa must fall’ gains momentum

As matters into Deokaran’s investigation progress, on social media, a faction of disgruntled South Africans have been gaining momentum with their call for Ramaphosa to step aside.

Rising unemployment, the ongoing conviction of former president Jacob Zuma and many other factors have been brought up as motivations behind the trending topic.

These were some of the reactions we picked out from the trend: