The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) under the banner of the Health Sector Anti-Corruption Forum has put together a five-episode series of webinars that will shine the spotlight on the state of whistleblowing and witness protection in South Africa. The webinars are an initiative of the SIU together with the Department of Justice and Correctional Service, Government Communication and Information Systems (GCIS), and the Department of Public Service and Administration, in partnership with Maverick Citizen.

In the introductory webinar scheduled to take place on Sunday, 19 September 2021 at 18h00, Head of SIU Advocate Andy Mothibi will be joined by former Public Protector Professor Thuli Madonsela, and former SIU Head Willie Hofmeyr, to unpack the importance of whistleblowing in the fight against corruption in South Africa. The panel will also look at the challenges confronting whistle-blowers, as well as potential solutions to ensure a safer, more conducive environment.

The webinars follow an adoption of the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NACS) by Cabinet in 2020, which has become a blueprint for the country in terms of the approach to fight corruption. The NACS has six pillars and one of those pillars emphasize the need to promote and encourage active citizenry, whistleblowing, integrity and transparency in all spheres of society.

The NACS has adopted “a whole of government and society approach” in the fight against corruption. This approach requires all sectors of society (public, business, civil society, religious and traditional) to play an active role in improving anti-corruption and integrity regulations. The success of the fight against corruption is largely dependent on whistleblowers who continuously detect and report acts of malfeasance in all sectors of the society. However, the threats and perceived poor protection of whistleblowers remains a big challenge in the fight against corruption.

The webinars will explore different thematic areas with diverse subject matter experts from public, business and civil society. The themes will include amongst others, whistleblower and witness protection, understanding of how whistleblowing works, whistleblowing regulation and legal framework.