whistleblowing and corruption busting in South Africa: a dangerous pastime?

• In Event: Challenges in Trauma Recovery and Treatment

Abstract

Whistleblowers play a vital role in exposing acts of criminality, corruption, bribery, malfeasance, and wrongdoing – especially by public officials, and any other acts considered to be in the realm of misconduct and irregular. While most countries have laws to protect whistleblowers in particular their anonymity and treating the information reported as confidential. But this is not always the case, and it can become downright dangerous for a whistleblower. As the saga of ‘State Capture’ and high levels of corruption in South Africa emerged from the mid-2010s onwards, and more particular during the hearings of the so-called Zondo Commission of Enquiry (established in January 2018 and sat until June 2022) the valuable role played by numerous whistleblowers was revealed. While the Protection of Whistleblowers Act seemingly offered them protections and even entry to the Witness Protection Programme, identities were revealed placing them in danger. This led to several of them being either assassinated; fleeing the country in fear of the lives; or were ‘silenced’ by employers and organisations who suspended, dismissed and/or launched court cases against them – in fact widespread victimisation of whistleblowers was reported. This paper looks at not only the impact such whistleblowers had in exposing the extent of the State Capture-related levels of corruption in South Africa, but also examines the extreme victimisation they experienced; the revealed shortcomings of legislation in South Africa that was supposedly to provide full protection to whistleblowers; government intransigence in dealing with the whistleblower crisis; and proffers some recommendations for tightening up and improving the whistleblower protective laws.

Author

• Anthony de Villiers Minnaar, University of Limpopo