Protect those who dare blow whistle
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: whistleblowers need to be protected. At all costs.
It takes a brave person to put the interests of others above their own, risking their life when it comes to lifting the lid on corruption.
If the last few weeks of the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry and parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, is anything to go by, we need a lot of people protected after all the revelations that have surfaced.
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: whistleblowers need to be protected. At all costs.
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Witness Maluleke, head of the department of criminology and criminal justice at the University of Limpopo, said: “Protection of the witnesses and whistleblowers has been an ignored thorny issue. Therefore, their lives and safety concerns are not prioritised, and their testimonies can place them in dangerous positions, compromising their safety and security.”
He added: “Witnesses are currently doing it at their own risk. As a result, their glorified and heroic status can negatively affect their lives, and their daily movements might be limited after sharing testimony.
“Overall, the country should rework strategies to enhance its safety to safeguard whistleblowing techniques; this is very urgent.”
More and more people coming forward are at risk. We need to do better to protect them.
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