Effective Whistleblower Protection – A Fundamental Step In Effective Corruption Combatting

Whistleblowers play a critical role in strengthening accountability. As former Chief Justice Raymond Zondo observed, they are “the final defence against corruption and state capture.”

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, a global professional organisation of fraud examiners, in a study considered cases of fraud in 133 countries and found that 42% of fraudulent activities were detected by tips / whistleblowing reports. This is nearly three times as many as the next most common fraud detection method, internal audits.

The assassinations of whistle-blowers like Babita Deokaran, Mpho Mafole and Pamela Mabini underscore the urgent need for enhanced whistleblower protections in South Africa. At the time of our last article, almost twelve months ago, the primary legal protection for whistleblowers in South Africa is the Protected Disclosures Act No. 26 of 2000 (“PDA”). However, there is broad consensus that the current legislation fails to adequately destigmatise whistleblowing