Many are too afraid to report corruption, says activist
CORRUPTION will continue uninterrupted while many are afraid to speak up because they are not protected, says human rights activist and violence monitor Dr Mary de Haas said.
She was reacting to the Analysis of Corruption Trends report released last week by Corruption Watch. It revealed how corruption had continued unabated during the first half of this year. Up to 1 964 whistle-blowers have reported acts of corruption in both the public and private sectors.
Corruption Watch researcher Melusi Ncala, who penned the report, said the organisation noticed similar trends over the years, when common types of corruption ranged from maladministration, dodgy procurement deals, fraud and abuse of authority.
That, he said, suggested that efforts by the public and private sectors to seriously address the scourge of corruption were “woefully inadequate”.
“The impact on the majority of people in the country, of this failure to act, cannot be underestimated, as they continue to be denied access to basic rights and services, and deprived of much-needed protection,” Ncala said.
He said whistle-blowers were living in a hostile environment, following the murder of Gauteng government official Babita Deokaran last month.
Deokaran, formerly from Durban, was a witness in the Special Investigating Unit’s personal protection equipment (PPE) corruption investigation that has dogged the provincial health department since last year.
“The vulnerability of whistle-blowers in South Africa needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency, if there is to be any meaningful shift in the efforts to eradicate corruption,” Ncala said.
He said it would take all sectors of society to unite in order to effectively tackle corruption.
De Haas said there seemed to be no hope to resolve corruption because it had become extremely dangerous and that corruption was continuing in both public and private sectors.
“Sometimes, when you make a statement and report corruption, those you report to might be the same people working with culprits who kill people. Many whistle- blowers are getting killed.
“What’s worse is that some ministers have close relations with bad people and the same ministers have access to reports from whistle-blowers trying to expose corruption. We need very independent law enforcement agencies to work on corruption cases.
"The cases go on for so long and whistle-blowers lose their jobs because our criminal justice is so broken and criminal cases don't get resolved.”
De Haas said people must watch their step if they wanted to be whistle-blowers. “No one can be trusted, even in the investigative agencies. People have lost hope in the law enforcement agencies.”
Cosatu national spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said the protection of whistle-blowers was important in the fight against corruption.
“This is not an overnight fight, but it needs all social partners to support the efforts… The best way to defeat corruption is through successful prosecution of the corrupt individuals. We have noted some gradual progress with the suspension of senior politicians, but the answer is prosecution and recovery of stolen items, not just suspension from positions,” said Pamla.
Political analyst Professor Tumi Senokoane said the report showed that corruption had become worse under leaders who claimed the high moral ground.
“Only those who are enemies of these leaders shall suffer the consequences of corruption, but those close allies remain untouchable, are granted leave or are transferred to other responsibilities.”
Ncala said Corruption Watch believed whistle-blowers and members of the public should be protected, but in some cases, “their names were unfortunately revealed”. That needed to be investigated.
“The vulnerability of whistleblowers… needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency if there is to be any meaningful shift in the efforts to eradicate corruption.
“Whistle-blowers deserve commitment and support from the highest echelons of power to ensure their safety, and to create an environment that encourages reporting corruption,”