- Mkhize said he had "absolutely nothing" to do with the crime.
- Deokaran was shot dead while sitting in her car outside her home in Winchester Hills on 23 August.
- The bail application continues on Friday.
Former Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says he is shocked and saddened to learn that his name was dragged into the case against six men alleged to have killed Gauteng health department whistleblower Babita Deokaran.
A statement released on behalf of Mkhize on Wednesday said:
The statement further reminded the public that the alleged procurement irregularities took place at a provincial level, "far away from the national sphere of government where he was deployed as a national Minister of Health".
READ | Babita Deokaran murder: How a night of 'torture' led to accused falsely implicating Zweli Mkhize
News24 confirmed the statement with spokesperson Sphethile Mathenjwa on Wednesday.
The statement comes after one of the alleged killers in the murder of Deokaran retracted a confession that implicated Mkhize in the murder.
Phakamani Hadebe, 29, told the Johannesburg Magistrate's Court on Tuesday that the false confession was made under duress and that he had never met Mkhize.
Hadebe, along with his co-accused, are applying for bail.
Deokaran, 53, was gunned down while sitting in her car outside her home in Winchester Hills on 23 August.
She had just returned from dropping her teenage daughter at school when gunmen opened fire on her car.
It was later revealed that she was a witness in the Special Investigating Unit's investigation into personal protective equipment tender fraud amounting to more than R300 million in the Gauteng health department, News24 reported.
The bail application was set to continue on Friday.
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