Zondo: Society needs to help govt protect whistleblowers
Chief Justice Raymond Zondo say South Africans cannot afford to rely only on the government to protect the lives of whistleblowers.
There has also been a growing call to overhaul the existing legislation following the assassination of Tembisa Hospital whistleblower Babita Deokaran in 2021.
This is while the Department of Justice and Correctional Services is working on new laws that will help protect whistleblowers.
Speaking at the conclusion of the Aspirant Women Judges' Programme in Rosebank on Wednesday, Zondo said the battle against corruption cannot be won without whistleblowers.
“In order for us to fight corruption, whistleblowers are very important because those who get involved in corruption hope that they won’t be exposed, or if they are exposed, they hope that they won’t be arrested. If they are arrested, they hope that the NPA will not do their work properly and they will be acquitted, but it starts with exposure.
“If we don’t have whistleblowers, our fight against corruption is weakened. But what protection do we give whistleblowers? Some of those who blew the whistle in relation to state capture have suffered a lot.
“I have said that next time there is another state capture, if we don’t look well after those whistleblowers who helped us with this one, there won’t be whistleblowers for the next one because they will say, look what happened to those who blew the whistle.
“As a society, we mustn’t wait all the time for government. There are certain things that are right to do which we must just do because, in the end, we all benefit.”
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