The family of murdered Gauteng health department whistleblower Babita Deokaran has hailed her as a freedom fighter for exposing corruption at Tembisa Hospital.

Deokaran's brother-in-law, Tony Haripersad, and her sister, Renu Williams, spoke to News24 on Thursday at the Johannesburg premiere of its investigative documentary Silenced: Why Babita Deokaran was murdered.

Deokaran was a senior finance official at the Gauteng Department of Health. She flagged suspicious payments of R850-million that was paid to shell companies and politicians, among others.

The News24 documentary exposed corruption at the hospital and the health department's failure to protect her after she raised safety concerns.

She was murdered outside her home in Johannesburg south in August 2021.

On Thursday, South Africans will commemorate Freedom Day, and Haripersad and Williams said the family considered Deokaran a freedom fighter "who couldn't stomach the exploitation of the poor".

"She couldn't turn a blind eye while the poor were being exploited. That wasn't her," Williams said.

Haripersad said Deokaran was a freedom fighter who died doing the right thing.

"She was one of the conscientious employees, and to her, earning a salary was a matter of doing the right thing. She laid down her life because of this. She fought for our freedom and the poor," Haripersad added.

Haripersad said the arrests of six people in connection with Deokaran's murder is not enough because the masterminds who ordered the hit were still free.

"Our desire is that the perpetrators must be brought to book. Not just the six who carried out the hit, but those who ordered it – the masterminds behind the crime. Peace-loving people around the world want to see justice served," he said.

Williams said the family struggled to cope with Deokaran's death and was trying to support her daughter, Thiara.

"She misses her mother, and it's been tough for her. We can do as much as possible, but nobody can ever replace her mom, nobody. She is left with a void, and it will be there for the rest of her life," she said. 

Thiara, now in matric, was in Grade 10 when her mother was murdered. Williams said the teen asked not to attend the premiere as it would have been too emotional for her.