While turning into her driveway one morning, having just taken her daughter to school, Babita Deokaran was shot 9 times; later that day, she succumbed to her injuries. Deokaran was murdered in what was a blatent hit; she was the target of this hit because she had flagged and tried to prevent corruption to the tune of hundreds of millions of Rands in the Gauteng Department of Health, where she was employed.
Nonetheless, current legislation states that employees and workers who make protected disclosures relating to impropriety, whether in the public or private sector, may not be subject to ‘occupational detriment’ on account of having made a protected disclosure. In the meantime, democracies crucially depend on whistleblowers to come forward with information in order to combat crime, corruption and impunity, all of which are endemic in South Africa. But how – concretely and immediately – can we protect them?
Whistleblowers, often driven by a strong impulse and a sense of urgency to do the right thing, may make disclosures hastily and ‘in the thick of it’. This is valiant and commendable; however, it can precipitate grave unintended and unforeseen consequences.