Africa’s whistle-blowers: ‘All I did was tell the truth’

By Olivier Piot Translated by Charles Goulden First published in The Nation South African president Jacob Zuma resigned in February 2018 over the biggest corruption scandal since the end of apartheid, which involved both the president and his son. Zuma’s exit became inevitable last June, after the publication of thousands of confidential documents revealing that Read more >

Whistle-blower ousted while accused principal remains

When wrong-doers are protected, whistle-blowers are often the ones who end up being punished, while the culprit smugly carries on with their shenanigans. So it was in the case of the misbehaving principal vs the school governing body (SGB) of Walter Sisulu Primary School in Olivenhoutbosch, Centurion. Gauteng Education MEC Payaza Lesufi went on national Read more >

Get to know the amended Protected Disclosures Act

The Protected Disclosures Act (PDA) is a prominent law aimed at the protection of whistle-blowers. For employees to be comfortable with blowing the whistle, though, there must be an encouraging and supportive environment in the workplace, as well as an established culture of whistle-blowing. Although the PDA and other legislation such as the Prevention and Combating Read more >

AEPF: SA professionals do have ethical courage

Professionals working in the auditing and accounting fields in South Africa are generally keen to report unethical behaviour within their fields, provided the conditions under which they do so are conducive and supportive. There are risks involved in exposing corruption or unethical behaviour, and if companies and professional bodies do not curb incidents of intimidation, Read more >

Looking out for whistleblowers’ rights

Corruption Watch is in Parliament today to make further oral submissions to the Select Committee on Security and Justice on the Protected Disclosures Act amendment bill, which was published in December 2015. This act sets out the procedure that must be followed when public and private sector employees disclose information about unlawful behaviour in the Read more >

Corruption fight not lost as long as resistance continues

By David Lewis First published in The Star Transparency International’s 2016 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released on Wednesday, scores South Africa at 45 out of 100, a minuscule improvement on our 2015 score of 44. Our ranking has declined from 61 of 168 countries in 2015 to 64 of 176 countries in 2016. Of the Read more >

More protection needed for whistleblowers

The Open Democracy Advice Centre (Odac) is proud to announce the launch of its latest piece of extensive research on the lived experience of South African whistleblowers, titled Heroes Under Fire. Whistleblowers in South Africa are under threat as never before. A deepening culture of impunity and lack of accountability is making it harder for them Read more >

New forum to advise, protect whistleblowers

The fight against corruption stepped up a notch yesterday in Johannesburg, with the official launch of the Anti-Intimidation and Ethical Practices Forum (AEPF). This body has been established to help professionals in certain fields who are being intimidated for exposing corruption in the workplace.  AEPF’s eight founding organisations are the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Read more >