National Whistleblowing Week Launched
NEWS
The Open Democracy Advice Centre (ODAC) has announced the launch of a National Whistleblowing Week. The week will be launched on 17 October 2011 at a public event in Cape Town and will be concluded with a roundtable discussion focusing on the Secrecy Bill in Johannesburg. Its main aim is to create a platform to educate South Africans on how to blow the whistle safely through the correct legislative procedures.
“Corruption and fraud costs South Africans in excess of R100-billion each year. It is eating at the very fabric of our society,” Alison Tilley, Executive Director of ODAC said upon the announcement of the launch. South Africa boasts the world’s second highest incidence of corporate fraud and corruption, an audit by international firm BDO revealed. Global Financial Integrity, a Washington based research group, calculates that R185-billion of money has illegally left South African shores since 1994. This excludes money lost to illegal activities, such as smuggling and money laundering, making the real figure much higher. In addition, research conducted by Transparency International, resulted in South Africa being ranked 55th out of 180 countries in a 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index.
“Fighting corruption starts with individuals. Small acts of courage can have a massive impact,” says Tilley. “The very core of what we stand for as a nation is in danger. We are being strangled daily by people who commit fraud and corruption in all sectors of business and government, it is up to the person on the street to stand up and say no to wrongdoing.”
“With uncertainty over the proposed secrecy bill and the impact this will have on access to information, the current legislation protecting whistleblowers is under an enormous threat,” says Tilley. “National Whistleblowing Week could not have come at a better time in South Africa.”
National Whistleblowing Week is aimed at encouraging South Africans to blow the whistle on corruption. A national helpline 0800 WHISTLE (0800 944 7853) will be launched at the start of the week to encourage prospective whistleblowers to blow the whistle safely and confidentially. In addition, the helpline will equip potential whistleblowers with access to information on the Protected Disclosures Act – the legislation that supports and protects whistleblowers.
A number of high profile ambassadors have joined the campaign; these include author and columnist Max Du Preez, journalist Iman Rappetti and radio personalities Xolani Gwala and John Perlman. For more information on whistleblowing visit www.blowthewhistle.org.za.
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Really shocking piece! So South Africa has the 2nd highest corporate corruption yet you would never know if you were a resident of South Africa thanks to a very racist media that only focuses on Govt corruption. I guess it’s also cause much of the media is owned by the same corrupt corporations!
Finally, ODAC is really making things worse for would-be whistleblowers by pretending that the PDA provides them any type of protection; the fact of the matter is that the judiciary esp the Labour court is utterly corrupt and routinely turns the law on its head to deprive whistleblowers who challenge either big business or the govt of victory. They employ various means to do this in cahoots with some court employees. If Odac really wants things to change then it needs to go undercover and investigate how the courts are trampling over those few brave whistleblowers who have dared to take their employers to court, & then make a lot of noise to bring attention to this despicable state of things!
Background of the project.Whistleblower protection has become an important instrument in fighting corruption. Unfortunately in the CEE region there s only very limited number of legislation implementing it..Under Article 9 of the Civil Law Convention on Corruption adopted by the Council of Europe parties of the Convention shall provide in its internal law appropriate protection against any unjustified sanction for employees who have reasonable grounds to suspect corruption and who report in good faith their suspicion to responsible persons or authorities.
Really shocking piece! So South Africa has the 2nd highest corporate corruption yet you would never know if you were a resident of South Africa thanks to a very racist media that only focuses on Govt corruption. I guess it’s also cause much of the media is owned by the same corrupt corporations!
Finally, ODAC is really making things worse for would-be whistleblowers by pretending that the PDA provides them any type of protection; the fact of the matter is that the judiciary esp the Labour court is utterly corrupt and routinely turns the law on its head to deprive whistleblowers who challenge either big business or the govt of victory. They employ various means to do this in cahoots with some court employees. If Odac really wants things to change then it needs to go undercover and investigate how the courts are trampling over those few brave whistleblowers who have dared to take their employers to court, & then make a lot of noise to bring attention to this despicable state of things!
+1
Focusing on the Secrecy Bill and its impact on whistleblowing, the panel for this event, will include the Public Protector, Advocate Thuli Madonsela, former high profile whistleblower Mike Tshishonga and Executive Director of ODAC Alison Tilley.The main aim of the week is to create a platform to educate South Africans on how to blow the whistle safely through the correct legislative procedures. “Corruption and fraud costs South Africans in excess of R100-billion each year. It is eating at the very fabric of our society,” says Tilley. South Africa boasts the world’s second highest incidence of corporate fraud and corruption, an audit by international firm BDO revealed. Global Financial Integrity, a Washington based research group, calculates that R185-billion of illegal money has left South African shores since the tracking of the index. This excludes money lost to illegal activities, such as smuggling and money laundering, making the real figure much higher. In addition, research conducted by Transparency International, resulted in South Africa being ranked 55th out of 180 countries in a 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index. “Fighting corruption starts with individuals. Small acts of courage can have a massive impact,” says Tilley. “The very core of what we stand for as a nation is in danger, it is up to the person on the street to stand up and say no to wrongdoing in all sectors of business and government.” “With uncertainty over the proposed secrecy bill and the impact this will have on access to information, the current legislation protecting whistleblowers is under an enormous threat,” says Tilley. “National Whistleblowing Week could not have come at a better time in South Africa.”National Whistleblowing Week is aimed at encouraging South Africans to blow the whistle on corruption and equip potential whistleblowers with access to information on the Protected Disclosures Act – the legislation that supports and protects whistleblowers.