Corruption Watch reported receiving 5,094 reports of corruption in local government from 2012 to 2020, while the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime reported identifying 1,971 contract killing cases in South Africa between 2000 and 2021.
IN SPITE of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into State Capture’s long-awaited recommendations for the protection of whistle-blowers and the justice minister’s call for heightened protection of whistle-blowers, South Africa remains one of the more than 84 countries that saw the death of more than 27,000 victims of contract killings.
Corruption Watch reported receiving 5,094 reports of corruption in local government from 2012 to 2020, while the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime reported identifying 1,971 assassination cases in South Africa between 2000 and 2021.
Victims of contract killings included Babita Deokaran, Moss Phakoe, and Mosilo Mothepu.
In 2009, Phakoe who was a councillor in the Bojanala Platinum District Municipality in North West, was shot dead after exposing corruption by councillors and officials.
In August 2021, Deokaran, who lifted the lid on corruption at Tembisa Hospital, was shot dead.
Former University of Cape Town (UCT) ethics lecturer Athol Williams was forced to leave the country following threats to his life, after he blew the whistle on companies and individuals involved in state capture.
Former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter has become the latest victim of death threats against his life following a hair-raising revelation that certain ministers and people in powerful positions were responsible for the country’s power crisis.
This is after De Ruyer said there were at least four mafia-type crime syndicates operating in the country’s coal industry, which he said sabotaged Eskom machinery and provided lucrative repair contracts to Eskom.
He said there were known murder squads who ensured that plant managers toed the line and ignored the sabotage, while rival contractors were killed if they put in competing bids.
“Pretty much every week, there’s an assassination,” De Ruyter revealed.
Speaking to the DFA’s sister publication The Star, Victor Sibeko of the Africa Brand Summit said more still needs to be done to protect whistle-blowers who risk their lives by coming forward when they witness corruption.
“We are in a very dire situation as a country … There is so much that is going on, and we have people who are afraid to come forward and speak out. De Ruyter has blown the whistle. He has indicated that he wants to leave the country because of the threats against him.
“How do we then fix the country when people are threatened for speaking out? The level of protection for whistle-blowers is a problem. Even now we are still dealing with the killing of Deokaran,” Sibeko said.
Patricia Mashale, who has been in hiding since 2022, said she continues to live in fear after she sounded the whistle on corruption in the SAPS.
“A threat assessment report confirmed that my life is at risk from the police, and the experienced member who compiled the report was instructed by his commander to change it – which he refused to do.
“This was reported to the parliamentary police portfolio committee, which should have called for an investigation by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) but did not.
“The president, the police minister and the portfolio committee of the police, as well as the national police commissioner are all aware of my situation, but they haven’t taken any meaningful steps to secure my safety and livelihood,” she said.
Earlier this month, Justice Minister Ronald Lamola said there were major gaps in the country’s legal framework, adding that more needed to be done to transition whistle-blowers into witnesses in criminal cases where possible.
“In direct response to the recommendation by the Judicial Commission of an Inquiry into state capture, comparative research is being done on the incentivisation of whistle-blowers. Quite clearly in our context, there appears to be a gap in the overall intention of what the Public Disclosures Act seeks to do,” Lamola said.
Kavish Pillay of Corruption Watch said more needs to be done to protect crime busters in the country.
“Despite the essential role that whistle-blowing plays in South Africa, especially in the context of endemic corruption, we unfortunately do not have an environment that is safe or conducive for disclosures.
“Martha Ngoye, Cynthia Stimpel, Athol Williams, and many others are testament to this. Babita Deokaran and Moss Phakoe paid the ultimate sacrifice with their lives when trying to expose corruption,” Pillay said.
Shenilla Mohamed, executive director of Amnesty International SA, expressed hope that the president will take action on this issue.
“The killings and threats have not ceased, and President Cyril Ramaphosa, during his State of the Nation addresses in 2022 and 2023 correctly pointed out that there was a need for greater protection of whistle-blowers in the country,” Mohamed said.
