Breaking the Chains of Corruption: Whistleblowing as a Catalyst for Social Development in South Africa

South Africa has high poverty, inequality, and unemployment rates. This is further worsened by an unequal distribution of resources. Underprivileged communities are thus particularly affected, with power outages and deteriorating water services presenting severe obstacles to everyday life. South Africa is also struggling with corruption. The recent 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index by Transparency International shows that South Africa continues to be negatively perceived as corrupt, falling into the category of “flawed democracies”.

When corruption flourishes, limited resources are diverted, deepening existing social inequalities and hindering social progress, with indigent communities worst affected. It is not only public corruption that contributes to the exacerbation of social problems but also malfeasance arising from private capital and interests. Whistleblowing emerges as a powerful tool for addressing and combatting such wrongdoing. However, despite being an effective weapon, whistleblowing often comes at a massive cost in various forms of retaliation: social, work-related, lawfare and even physical, which has often resulted in injury and death.

To further interrogate these issues, theCSDA and the University of Johannesburg’s SARChI Chair in Social Change are hosting a two-day colloquium titled “Breaking the Chains of Corruption: Whistleblowing as a Catalyst for Social Development in South Africa,” taking place on July 18th and 19th, 2024. This event will bring together academics, researchers, students, civil society actors, public servants, and representatives from private enterprise. Our goal is to facilitate dialogue on how to effectively protect and support whistleblowers.

A possible output from this event is a co-edited volume.