- Whistleblowers want financial support and protection.
- The Active Citizens Movement has written to President Cyril Ramaphosa, calling on him to demonstrate his commitment to addressing the plight of whistleblowers.
- The group also wants changes to whistleblower legislation.
The Active Citizens Movement (ACM) has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to act and offer support and protection for whistleblowers.
A group from the civil society organisation, clad in orange T-shirts and masks, demonstrated outside the State Capture Inquiry on Wednesday morning as Ramaphosa testified.
The group were at the commission to hand over a memorandum to the president. Newly appointed Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele received and signed the memorandum.
The memorandum stated that the organisation was writing to Ramaphosa in response to his remarks on 29 April when he appeared at the commission before Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.
He said at the time that he regretted that, in many instances, "we have not treated them well".
The memorandum stated: "Mr President, it cannot be business as usual because the situation in South Africa is dire. The recent unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng speaks of a restless nation - a nation whose hopes and dreams have been shattered through corruption.
"Mr President, it cannot be business as usual where companies complicit in this corruption get away by paying back some of their ill-gotten gains. This is not just compensation for the damage caused to our economy and to the lives of millions of our citizens. Action must be taken now!"
The letter also read:
The group said that a case in point was the continuous harassment of whistleblowers at Prasa, such as Martha Ngoye, who, despite her victory in the Labour Court, was currently suspended and continued to be subjected to disciplinary action.
"Mr President, as you take the witness stand at the state capture Commission, South Africa is looking to you for an unequivocal commitment to support the cause of whistleblowers as a step to deploying State resources to end the scourge of corruption," the ACM said.
Speaking to News24 outside the commission, whistleblowers Cynthia Stimpel and Willie Hofmeyr said it was now time for Ramaphosa to act on corruption, while also protecting those who exposed it.
"We are here today to remind [Ramaphosa] that he needs to help [whistleblowers] because he said they do need help and support. In our memorandum, we state that we do need that support and that the legislation needs to change. There needs to be financial support for whistleblowers and support from different aspects such as psychological, social and mental assistance," said Stimpel, who is a whistleblower from SAA.
She added that the stigmatisation of whistleblowers also needs to end.
Dispensation
Hofmeyr, who is the former NPA Asset Forfeiture Unit Head, said whistleblowers had played a critical role during the state capture commission period.
He said there was no dispensation to protect them and ensure they were kept safe from people who often wanted to kill them.
"Our focus at the moment is to try and engage with government and the commission to ensure that there is a much better dispensation put in place to protect and assist whistleblowers much more effectively for the future," Hofmeyr said.
Michael Mohatjazi from Welkom, Free State, also joined the group. Mohatjazi said he worked for SA Post Office and had blown the whistle on corruption happening within the corporation.
He said that when he had attempted to report the corruption, his life was threatened.
Mohatjazi said:
He said there was a conspiracy against him, to the extent that he was ill-treated at healthcare facilities in the province, adding that he had reported the issues to the Department of Health.
The whistleblower said he had previously written to the late Minister Jackson Mthembu, explaining his challenges.
Mohatjazi said Mthembu had promised to look into his plight, but had died during the process. ACM previously wrote to the commission to suggest amendments to legislation to protect whistleblowers, News24 reported.
The organisation proposed several amendments to the Protected Disclosures Act of 2000. It suggested that the legislation should broaden the definition of a whistleblower and provide specialised courts for their cases.
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