The arrest of six men accused of the murder of Gauteng health department corruption whistleblower Babita Deokaran has left their families and friends shattered and desperately seeking answers.
Phakamani Hadebe, Zita Hadebe, Nhlangano Ndlovu, Sanele Mbele, Siphiwe Mazibuko and Phakanyiswa Dladla, all from KwaZulu-Natal, were arrested in police raids south of Johannesburg.
The men, described to Sunday Times Daily as “loving fathers, polite and humble”, appeared before Johannesburg magistrate Simon Radasi on charges of murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.
They are alleged to have shot Deokaran outside her Winchester Hills home, south of Johannesburg, and attempted to shoot a woman who was getting into her car at the time.
Speaking from the family’s Rosettenville home, where Mazibuko has lived for the past five years, his grandmother, Soneni Zondi, who raised him after his mother died while he was a young child, told Sunday Times Daily they were confused and terrified.
“We don’t know what is going on. We just want answers. We went to court to find out from him what had happened, but we couldn’t speak to him.”
She said they last saw him on Thursday August 26.
“He left home at 7pm with his friend to play soccer in Lenasia.”
Looking at a chalkboard hanging on the lounge wall of the family’s modest home, with the words “Siphiwe Mazibuko #Missing”, Zondi said on Friday morning when Mazibuko had not returned home, they opened a missing persons case with the police.
“We thought he was dead. We went everywhere looking for him. We called his cellphone but it was off. We eventually got information that he was arrested. We went to John Vorster [Johannesburg Central Police], but they told us he was arrested and we would not see him.”
Zondi said she was battling to understand what had happened.
“My heart is so sore. We do not know him like this. When he sees people fighting he jumps to stop them. He does not like violence.
“We are still confused as to how he got into this trouble. We let you into our house and are speaking to you because we know he is not a criminal.”
She described Mazibuko as a humble person who supported the family financially through his job as a taxi driver.
Mazibuko’s uncle, Thokozani Zondi, said his nephew had never caused problems.
“He has never seen the inside of jail. We don’t know how he got caught up in this or who these other people are.
“He would never hurt anyone, never mind kill someone.”
Zondi, who saw Mazibuko as he left for soccer practice with a friend, said he was joking as he left.
“He was really happy. They were dressed in their kit. They were going to play at Lenasia because the field that they usually play at Wemmerpan was being used for something else.
“All we know is that he was arrested in the Mondeor area. The police haven’t given us proper information. We just want this nightmare to end.”
Hadebe’s best friend and fellow taxi driver, Sthembiso Makhelwane, said he could not imagine him hurting anyone, “never mind killing someone”.
“He was always helping people. His baby girl lives with her mom in Nqutu, KZN. He absolutely adores her. His little girl is his world. He always talks of her.”
He said after Hadebe had failed to return home, Tracker called him.
“I am listed as an emergency contact. When I got that call I went cold.
“I thought the worst. We went to his soccer friends, but they said he never arrived. Then we heard he was arrested.”
Makhelwane said Mazibuko had never spoken about the other accused.
“We don’t know where or how he met them. He might or might not have known them through a lift he gave them or from back home in KZN.”
He described Mazibuko as a “lover, not a fighter”.
“He is definitely not capable of doing this thing that the police say he did. He always spoke about how violence is bad. I just pray the police are wrong.”
A tenant at the Rosettenville house where Dladla, Ndlovu, Mbele and Zita Hadebe were arrested described them as “super-chilled and actually pretty cool guys”.
“They were renting here for a month. They seemed like regular guys. Though they kept to themselves, they were always friendly and polite.
“They had a white BMW and said they had driven from KZN to Joburg to work here for a bit.”
Asking not to be named out of safety concerns, a tenant who rented a room in a Turffontein house she shared with Phakamani Hadebe said she was stunned.
“He was hardly here. He would go out early in the morning and come back late at night. I know he worked in the taxi business.
“The only time I saw him was on the weekends, mainly in the kitchen. He was very polite and kind. We would chat about different things. He was friendly. He is just a really nice guy. He spoke often about his family in KZN, whom he missed a lot.”
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