Surveys conducted by the World Economic Forum, United Nations (UN) Office on Drugs and Crime, and Accountability Lab between 2015 and 2025 show that corruption frequently tops the list of concerns among young people. A recent survey among youth in Africa reveals similar statistics – 80% think corruption is the most important problem Africa faces.

‘The recent Gen Z uprisings in Nepal, Tanzania, Kenya, Bangladesh and Madagascar are about both the rejection of corrupt leaders and corrupted political systems,’ Associate Professor at Stellenbosch University Firoz Khan told ISS Today.

Against this backdrop, South Africa’s anti-corruption reform project is progressing too slowly. It has taken 10 years to generate comprehensive proposals to address graft, which include the establishment of a new anti-corruption agency – the Office of Public Integrity (OPI). President Cyril Ramaphosa and his cabinet must move swiftly to put the proposed system into operation.

The planning process thus far has been thorough. OPI was designed through a consultative process in which civil society organisations played a central role. The National Anti-Corruption Strategy 2020-2030 was drafted by a reference group comprising government officials and key civil society organisations.

In 2022 Ramaphosa appointed the National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council to guide his government on how to implement the strategy. The council comprised representatives from academia, anti-corruption non-governmental organisations, trade unions, the legal professions and traditional leaders. It carried out extensive research into models for anti-corruption institutions from across Africa, Asia and Europe.

The council’s final report, published on 28 August 2025, recommended the establishment of an independent OPI, insulated in Chapter 9 of the constitution, similar to the Office of the Public Protector.

Chapter 9 institutions cannot be abolished by a simple majority vote in Parliament, unlike those created by a simple statute, such as the former Directorate of Special Operations. This anti-corruption directorate, known as the Scorpions, was closed down in 2009 following an African National Congress resolution, which aimed to prevent it from investigating senior politicians.

Prevention is key to the OPI’s mandate. South Africa has signed and ratified the UN Convention Against Corruption – Article 6 of which provides that member states should have an agency dedicated to preventing corruption. This is a gap in South Africa’s anti-corruption institutional matrix that must be fixed urgently.

The advisory council recommended that the OPI not replace the institutions currently investigating and prosecuting criminal cases of corruption. The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) Investigating Directorate Against Corruption prosecutes high-level corruption, and the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) in the South African Police Service is mandated to investigate corruption cases.

It recommended that these agencies be strengthened, with the NPA becoming functionally and financially independent from the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.

The council said establishing the OPI was urgent. It recognised the significant achievements of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), South Africa’s most successful anti-corruption agency. It recommended the OPI absorb the SIU’s current mandate, functions and institution, and immediately use its offices, resources and staff to move forward. Essentially, the SIU should ‘grow’ into the OPI, with an expanded mandate to encompass corruption prevention.

The SIU is well positioned for a seamless transition to the OPI. It already performs the core functions required: forensic investigations, asset recovery through civil litigation and making systemic recommendations for reform. It also conducts prevention and advisory initiatives and targeted awareness campaigns. It develops prevention plans and uses data analytics as a proactive preventive tool.

Importantly, the SIU operates across the full accountability chain by combining forensic investigations, civil recovery (via the SIU Special Tribunal), referrals for criminal prosecution (to the NPA), referrals of misconduct for disciplinary action (to employers), and systemic reform recommendations.

With the advisory council having fulfilled its brief, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development is responsible for the next steps. It is the department responsible for drafting legislation and overseeing law enforcement agencies.

With the effort now firmly within the executive branch of government, civil society has lost its seat at the table, and must trust that this vital initiative is taken forward with urgency.

Thus far, Parliament is playing a robust oversight role. On 14 May, the advisory council presented its OPI recommendations to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development. At the time, Committee Chair Xola Nqola said the committee would monitor whether the proposal got enough support from the executive to kick-start implementation.

So far, developments are encouraging. The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development told ISS Today: ‘Processes are underway to engage other government departments and constitutional institutions to also gather their views on the [advisory council] recommendations, in preparation for its tabling in Cabinet, as directed by President Ramaphosa in his February 2025 State of the Nation Address.

‘The [department] regards the [council report] recommendations as vital tools in combatting corruption and we reaffirm our unwavering dedication to rule out corruption in our country.’

Given South Africa’s resource and capability constraints, the establishment of yet another government agency could be met with scepticism by citizens. But the council’s reasoning is sound, and its focus on building from what already works well is strategic and pragmatic. Importantly, it recognises that the country cannot afford to go without a long-term plan to address corruption.

South Africans should look forward to hearing that the proposal for a new anti-corruption agency is being actioned. Given recent public uprisings against corruption in other countries, South Africa’s Government of National Unity must deliver concrete actions to demonstrate its commitment to combatting corruption and building integrity.

Written by Colette Ashton, Research Consultant, Justice and Violence Prevention Programme, ISS Pretoria.

Republished with permission from ISS Africa. The original article can be found here.

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The latest incident that will most likely shake confidence in South Africa’s political system, and specifically the police and the criminal justice system, is the accusation by General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, provincial commissioner of KwaZulu-Natal province, that members of these institutions are involved in organised crime. The accusations are being investigated by the Madlanga Commission and heard in parliament by an ad hoc committee.

General Mkhwanazi alleged that the police minister, other members of the South African Police Force and members of the judiciary interfered with the investigation he was leading into political assassinations. He alleged they attempted to close down the “political killings task team” because of their own links to organised crime.

Signs of corruption have, over time, eroded political trust among citizens in South Africa.

In this article we discuss the findings of the most recent survey by Afrobarometer, a pan-African research network, and two attitude surveys done by Citizen Surveys for the South African Research Chairs Initiative chair in Gender Politics. The data of the SARChI Chair will be made public once the research project is concluded.

Prof Gouws specialises in the construction of surveys and analysis of survey data and Dr Kupolusi is a statistician who is her post-doctoral fellow and did the statistical analysis for this article.

The reports show a decline of trust over a four-year period. The 2022 Afrobarometer data supports the findings of our two attitude surveys.

Citizens have to trust a political system if they are to accept its legitimacy and support it. When they see the system as legitimate, citizens are more willing to obey the laws of the country. They then support the rule of law.

Political trust and legitimacy

We understand “political trust” as it was conceptualised by David Easton, an American political scientist, in 1975. It is the perceived likelihood that the political system will deliver public goods without having to be closely scrutinised by citizens. Political trust is closely linked to the concepts of political support and legitimacy.

These three concepts relate to each other in the following way. Support for the political authorities or a regime will typically express itself in two forms: trust or confidence in them, and belief in their legitimacy.

Trust is present when citizens feel that their own interests would be attended to even if the authorities were exposed to little supervision or scrutiny. Legitimacy is present when people believe it is right and proper to accept and obey the authorities, and abide by the requirements of the political system.

Trust and legitimacy are therefore distinct concepts. Trust is measured through political support for the regime and its authorities. Easton distinguishes between two types of support.

Diffuse support is a reservoir of positive attitudes and goodwill towards the regime as a whole, its underlying principles, and the larger political community. Diffuse support is more durable than specific support, which is trust in the incumbents of the political system.

Research has shown that levels of trust in institutions like parliament, parties and courts far outweigh judgements on national and personal economic well-being. Economic performance is more important in high income countries, but trust in institutions, coupled with free and fair elections, is more important in newer democracies.

Declining levels of trust

In this article, through the use of different surveys conducted at different points in time (2018 and two different surveys in 2022), we show how institutional trust has declined over time in South Africa, to the detriment of the political system.

We also show that there’s a gender gap – that men and women differ in their attitudes towards the rule of law.

The most recent Afrobarometer survey (Round 9, 2022) had a national sample of 1,582 respondents. It found “no trust” at 66% for the police, 73% for parliament, 75% for the ruling party and 72% for opposition parties. It is only for the courts where “no trust” is below 50%.

Afrobarometer’s findings corroborate those of our own surveys, done in 2018 and 2022 by Citizen Surveys, a survey company in Cape Town. The survey was conducted with a national stratified sample of 1,300 respondents in all nine provinces and translated into seven languages. The interviews were done face to face by the fieldworkers of Citizen Surveys.

What our surveys show are declining levels of trust over time in the most important institutions of the police, parliament and political parties, with “no trust” in all of them over 50%.

When it comes to the rule of law our 2022 data showed that 45.8% of respondents said it was “not necessary to obey the laws of a corrupt government”, 69% indicated that it was fine to “get around the law as long as you don’t break it”, 62% agreed that it was fine if “the law is suspended in times of emergency” and 50.4% thought it was “better to ignore the law and solve problems immediately than wait for a legal solution” (vigilante justice).

What surprised us was the difference between the attitudes of men and women for the rule of law in our 2022 data. For “it is not necessary to obey the laws of a corrupt government” 44% of men agreed vs 47% of women. For “it is all right to get around the law as long as you don’t actually break it” 65.6% of men agreed vs 71.4% of women. For “suspending the law in times of emergency” 61.2% of men agreed vs 63.5% of women. And for “sometimes it is better to ignore the law and solve problems immediately” 46.2% of men vs 53.4% of women agreed.

What this shows is that women are more militant in their attitudes towards (breaking) the rule of law – findings that were quite unexpected. It seems that women, who are often at the receiving end of crime, have had enough.

What needs to happen

Declining trust and support for the rule of law undermines the legitimacy of government. The courts have been a beacon of legitimacy but even for courts the level of “no trust” is close to 50%.

A serious problem is that citizens do not distinguish between institutions (diffuse support) and incumbents (specific support). This means that corrupt officials undermine trust in institutions (such as the police, parliament and political parties).

A decline in specific support affects diffuse support – that reservoir of goodwill toward institutions. When corruption is not dealt with, erosion of trust in institutions is a consequence of the behaviour of incumbents.

Political trust and support for the rule of law are important in democracies to sustain stability, and so that citizens will not start to look for alternative ways such as protest or political violence to make their demands known to those who govern them.

Written by Amanda Gouws, Professor of Political Science and Chair of the South African Research Initiative in Gender Politics, Stellenbosch University; and Joseph Ayodele Kupolusi
Senior Lecturer, Department of Statistics, Federal University of Technology, Akure.

Republished with permission from The Conversation. The original article can be found here.

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The awareness campaign under the banner of the Border Management and Immigration Anti-corruption Forum (BMIACF) was on show for the first time at the Beitbridge port of entry (PoE) on 11 November. It, as per a BMA statement, sent out a strong message to officials working at the border those engaged in corruption will face the full might of the law.

Convicted offenders shared “their regrettable experiences” with BMA personnel in an effort to discourage corrupt activities before finding themselves in correctional facilities. The statement has it further while offenders were treated with dignity “incarceration remains a difficult experience” because freedoms taken for granted disappear.

“Prison is very painful. My advice to all public officials is if you are already engaged in corruption, it is better for you to stop now; for your sake and that of your family,” according to an incarcerated offender quoted in the statement who attended the awareness campaign.

Similar sentiments were echoed by another behind bars official. Currently serving a 15-year sentence she is quoted as saying: “I was working in law enforcement but due to acts of corruption, now I find myself wearing the corrections uniform. I have grandchildren who come to visit me in custody and they wonder why I am not returning home. I have to come up with excuses each time they come to visit me and make up stories about where I am. It’s only a matter of time before they understand what is going on. I have lost friendships and my job”.

BMA Commissioner and Chief Executive, Dr Michael Masiapato, said the BMIACF enables integrated border law enforcement and relevant stakeholders to have conversations about the consequences of corruption.

“Beitbridge is one of our biggest and busiest ports, which is also an entry into the rest of the continent. It is important that we have this awareness campaign here so officials do not find themselves involved in wrongdoing,” the statement has him saying. It is against this background a preventative approach against corruption is crucial to enable would-be perpetrators to understand where their actions could lead to

The BMIACF, chaired by Special Investigations Unit (SIU) Head, Advocate Andy Mothibi, will leave no stone unturned in its endeavours to deal decisively with corruption in the border management and immigration environment. He is on record as saying corruption undermines the public’s trust in government institutions.

Since establishment of the forum, investigations have been instituted to ensure consequence management against corruption becomes the order of the day. “Those who commit corruption are brazen and daring. The BMIACF is fit-for-purpose to attend to such individuals without fear or prejudice,” he said.

The BMIACF, in addition to the BMA and SIU, has the Department of Home Affairs (DHA), the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the Directorate for Priority Crimes Investigations (DPCI) – the Hawks – onboard with civil society organisations.

Formed in March the forum is a platform for collaboration among key law enforcement organisations, civil society and business to address systemic corruption and illicit activities in the sector. The forum, according to the BMA statement, highlights the South African government’s “all of government” approach to rooting out corruption through multi-agency collaboration sharing data to effectively stamp out fraud and corruption.

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The committee concluded a rigorous meeting with the SAPS earlier this month following a briefing from the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) on the police service’s 2024/25 financial and performance outcomes.

Weak Supply Chain Oversight Fuels Irregular Expenditure

Committee Chairperson Ian Cameron said the committee was alarmed by the Auditor-General’s findings, particularly that irregular expenditure increased by 140% over the 2024/25 financial year, reaching R640 million. “The fact that irregular expenditure increased so dramatically, or that SAPS admitted its Bid Evaluation Committee members lack training and fail to exercise due diligence when evaluating tenders, is deeply concerning,” said Cameron.

The committee stressed that procurement laws and regulations exist to safeguard public funds and prevent abuse. Spending that does not comply with the Public Finance Management Act or other procurement legislation, even when not directly linked to fraud, creates an environment ripe for corruption.

Cameron warned that weaknesses in procurement undermine efficient resource use within SAPS’s R113 billion annual budget, especially when there are repeated calls for increased allocations. “Weaknesses in procurement will lead to wastage in the system, diverting funds from critical policing needs,” he added. The committee highlighted the Medicare 24 Tshwane District contract awarded to Vusimuzi Matlala as a key example of procurement irregularities. The bid was awarded to a supplier who did not meet all evaluation criteria, in violation of procurement procedures.

The committee also expressed dismay at SAPS’s failure to implement corrective action, warning that such inaction not only results in irregular expenditure but also exposes SAPS to costly litigation. While the committee noted that the contract is currently under investigation, it called for a comprehensive review of all SAPS procurement processes, including those related to Covid-19 personal protective equipment. The committee is further concerned that the head of SCM and procurement somehow remains in his position despite successive annual findings of irregular expenditure. “The committee will intensify oversight of SAPS procurement processes, going as far back as the Covid-19 period to uncover systemic weaknesses and ensure accountability,” Cameron said.

Poor Forensic Laboratory Performance Hampers Justice

The committee further expressed serious concern that none of the six performance targets within SAPS Forensic Science Laboratories were achieved during the reporting period. “In a country struggling with the scourge of gender-based violence, the non-performance of forensic laboratories is an indictment on the SAPS and undermines efforts to secure justice for victims,” Cameron emphasised. Delays in forensic analysis, including DNA testing, it was noted, stall investigations, delay justice and erode confidence in the criminal justice system.

Crime Intelligence Claims Questioned

The committee dismissed as implausible SAPS’s claim that its Crime Intelligence programme achieved 100% of its targets, citing the ongoing rise in organised crime, drug trafficking and kidnappings nationwide. “A fully functional Crime Intelligence unit cannot realistically claim success when the lived experience of ordinary South Africans suggests otherwise,” said Cameron. The committee also noted the Auditor-General’s finding that 30% of SAPS’s reported programme achievements were unreliable as more plausible and called for senior management to hold station and provincial commanders accountable for inaccurate reporting.

Weak SCM Affects Frontline Policing

The committee emphasised that wasteful expenditure caused by poor SCM practices directly undermines frontline policing. Despite SAPS reporting 85.54% vehicle availability, many police stations continue to experience vehicle shortages, hampering emergency responses. “A prudent and transparent SCM system would ensure optimal use of resources and prioritisation of essential policing tools such as vehicles,” Cameron said.

Rising Contact Crimes Cause Concern

The committee raised alarm over the increase in contact crimes, particularly those affecting women, children, and persons with disabilities.

Crimes against women increased by 0.52% (from 202,633 in 2023/24 to 203,692 in 2024/25).
Crimes against children rose by 2.15% (from 46,052 to 47,044).

These trends were particularly concerning given SAPS’s target of reducing contact crimes. “SAPS must strengthen its policing strategies to reduce contact crimes, which remain a major driver of crime statistics and community insecurity,” Cameron said.

Commitment to Transparency on Crime Statistics

The committee welcomed the assurance by the National Commissioner that the Quarter 1 and 2 crime statistics will be released by 28 November 2025. The committee also noted positively that the forthcoming statistics will include disaggregated data on crimes against women and children, which will now form a permanent feature of crime statistics reporting.

“Regular and transparent release of crime statistics is critical to assessing the effectiveness of policing strategies and maintaining public confidence,” Cameron concluded.

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There are opportunities for the private sector to take a more proactive role in preventing corruption. Ahead of the G20 summit in November, South Africa will host business leaders from around the world at this year’s B20 Summit in Johannesburg. The B20 Integrity and Compliance Task Force recently released recommendations for greater integrity measures in the private sector in order to reduce corruption.

New research published by Transparency International proves that anti-corruption measures benefit businesses by promoting sustainable growth, improving profitability and enhancing competitiveness. Companies with anti-corruption compliance programmes generally experience greater commercial success than their counterparts. The research shows that an organisational culture of integrity is linked to more sustainable long-term financial growth and greater stakeholder trust.

Peter Solmssen is a business leader with a track record of cleaning up corruption. He was appointed general counsel at multinational Siemens after one of the world’s biggest ever bribery scandals in 2008 and tasked with implementing corruption prevention and detection systems at the company.

Having done business with state-owned entities all over the world (including Eskom in South Africa), Solmssen says it makes business sense to fight corruption. ‘I believe that economic incentives can be arranged so that businesses are instrumentalised to fight corruption. I have seen it in my career,’ he says.

‘New Siemens leadership set an uncompromising tone from the top – only clean business is Siemens business. They invested in improved systems and structures – finance, audit, compliance – and walked the talk. Sales and marketing around the world were given training and support. They stopped paying bribes – and lo and behold the business not only survived, it got better. That gave the sales force confidence, in a reinforcing, confirming loop.’

New analysis by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and the Anti-Corruption Coalition (ACC) at the Gordon Institute of Business Science considers ways to shift South Africa’s private sector towards integrity, making corruption riskier, less profitable and unacceptable.

In the context of widespread systemic corruption, companies in South Africa operate in an environment where competitors frequently win contracts by paying bribes. Directors probably expect others to engage in unethical behaviour – and this may influence their decision making. Under these circumstances, many South African companies are unlikely to choose integrity.

Initiatives are needed to change the behaviour of the group or sector as a whole. ISS and ACC outline a proven international approach for businesses to reduce corruption risk in their industry: anti-corruption collective action. Solmssen describes this method as a ‘cartel of the good.’ Companies work together using their market power to drive corruption out of their sectors – in their own financial interests.

This approach is difficult to implement properly and requires intelligent programmatic design – but it has been shown to work.

The Special Investigating Unit has started several collective action projects in South Africa, in sectors such as construction and health. However, evidence shows that such efforts are most effective when business takes the lead, providing resources and innovation. The ISS and ACC recommend that business and civil society establish a working group to identify leverage points for the introduction of anti-corruption collective action.

Another way South Africa’s business sector can reduce corruption is by implementing good faith anti-corruption compliance programmes. These are internal systems that detect corruption and build genuine cultures of integrity in companies.

Recent legal and policy reforms are intended to incentivise corporate integrity. Section 34A of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act holds companies criminally liable for corruption by associated persons but allows a defence for those demonstrating adequate anti-corruption compliance programmes.

The National Prosecuting Authority’s corporate alternative dispute resolution policy also incentivises the use of anti-corruption compliance programmes. It does so by providing non-trial resolutions for companies that self-report corruption, pay reparations and implement anti-corruption compliance programmes.

More research is needed into which companies in South Africa use compliance programmes, and why. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development research in other countries finds that the two main drivers of the global increase in anti-corruption compliance programmes are enforcement risk and reputational risk.

Research by the National Business Initiative in South Africa shows that small, medium and micro enterprises are playing an increasingly important role in the economy – and are disproportionately affected by corruption. Incentivising the use of anti-corruption compliance programmes will be an important part of the country’s journey towards greater business integrity.

For South African businesses, the message is clear: anti-corruption measures are not just ethical imperatives but strategic business decisions. By leading the search for solutions through anti-corruption collective action, companies can future-proof themselves against the costs of corruption while contributing to a fairer economy.

Written by Colette Ashton, Research Consultant, Justice and Violence Prevention Programme, ISS Pretoria.

Republished with permission from ISS Africa. The original article can be found here.

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The committee met on Wednesday night to receive legal opinion on the participation of certain members, the committee’s request to extend its lifespan and the identification of further witnesses, among other things.

The committee was informed that the Speaker has granted it an extension until 28 November 2025 to finalise its work. Members welcomed this extension, as it provides for additional time for the committee to execute its mandate. The committee was initially given until the end of October to finalise its work.

Committee chairperson Molapi Soviet Lekganyane made the request to National Assembly (NA) Speaker on behalf of the committee. The request was made after the committee encountered delays in starting with its public hearings.

The committee also received an update on the public participation process. The committee heard that so far 325 submissions have been received. The deadline for input from the public on Lt Gen Mkhwanazi’s allegations was 17 October.

Regarding the legal opinion on the participation of “conflicted” members, it reads: “… in the circumstances, we hasten to opine that the cases that were opened by the affected members before the initiation of the subject enquiry, do not exhibit bias or give rise to a reasonable apprehension thereof.” The opinion further reads that in the view of a reasonable observer, “if aware of these cases, would consider that they were registered before the commencement of the committee hearings. Such observer would also be aware of the fact that the cases were registered, not in the context of the enquiry, but in the context of apparent contradictory versions made by Mr Mchunu, MP, both in the public domain and before a committee of Parliament regarding his association with Mr Brown Mogotsi. Moreover, it is the National Prosecuting Authority that will determine whether there are any prospects of success in prosecuting the said cases.”

This legal opinion refers to committee member David Skosana and Ms Lisa-Mare Schickerling, who had laid criminal charges against Minister Senzo Mchunu and Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya.

The committee was further informed about legal advice obtained by the Democratic Alliance (DA), which found there is no basis for committee member Dianne Kohler-Barnard to excuse herself or be removed from the parliamentary inquiry into allegations of corruption in the criminal justice system. The DA sought the legal opinion after Mkhwanazi accused Kohler-Barnard of disclosing classified intelligence information at the parliamentary inquiry and the Malanga Commission, an allegation she has denied.

Committee member Advocate Glynnis Breytenbach said the conclusion reached by the legal advice was that there was no factual basis to conclude that Kohler-Barnard was biased, conflicted and could not participate in the inquiry. She has been under pressure from several committee members to recuse herself from its proceedings.

Next week, committee members will be given an opportunity to pose questions to Mchunu. The committee is also expected to hear from former Police Minister Gen Bheki Cele. The committee also finalised a list of high-ranking SAPS officials that will be called to appear before it.

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This is according to SIU Head Advocate Andy Mothibi after the unit obtained a preservation order of some R900 million worth of assets linked to an alleged criminal syndicate that operated at the hospital.

The syndicate – together with two others – allegedly siphoned off some R2 billion that was earmarked for the improvement of healthcare services at the hospital in a complex web of fraud and corruption.

“The orders are a critical step in our commitment to claw back every cent that was stolen from the public purse, specifically Tembisa Hospital.

“This is not merely a preservation but a proactive, intensive effort to trace, secure, and ultimately recover assets that we allege are the proceeds of corruption. We will not allow individuals to hide behind complex corporate and trust structures,” Mothibi said.

Executing the order

Last week, the SIU secured assets valued at approximately R133.5 million belonging to one of the alleged masterminds of the Tembisa Hospital looting, Hangwani Maumela.

Items secured at a Sandhurst home and Emalahleni dealership include:
• A property in Sandhurst: estimated value R70 million
• Three Lamborghinis: estimated value R25 million
• Household contents: estimated value R3 million
• Security in respect of the Household contents: estimated value R500 000
• Two Aston Martin luxury cars
• One Ferrari luxury car
• One Rolls-Royce luxury car

“The Mpumalanga dealership, on a completely without prejudice basis, gave the SIU surety of two immovable properties, without any bonds outstanding on them, valued at approximately R35 million in exchange for the curator, in the interim, not removing the luxury cars from the dealership after the luxury cars have been attached by the curator.

“The preserved assets will remain under the control of the Curator appointed by the Special Tribunal until the final determination of up to 41 main civil recovery proceedings to be instituted, the first of which the SIU is mandated to institute within 60 court days. Once civil proceedings are concluded, the assets will be forfeited to the State,” the SIU explained.

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Whistleblowers have been at the core of exposing these instances of corruption.

Public whistleblowing was rare under apartheid (1948-1994). But with the transition to democracy, the reporting of wrongdoing increased. This can largely be attributed to a new constitution that caters for all the country’s citizens, and new laws that reinforced their rights.

One such law is the Protected Disclosures Act No. 26 of 2000, amended by way of the Protected Disclosures Amendment Act No. 5 of 2017. The law was designed to protect individuals who expose perceived wrongdoing to an authority that has the capacity to remedy the wrongdoing.

Yet, it has offered inadequate protection. South African whistleblowers have been overwhelmingly subjected to reprisals – from murder to social, work-related, and legal retaliation.

Our academic expertise is concerned with exploring the experiences of whistleblowers in South Africa, and making meaning of their plight.

In a recently published paper we give an account of the stories of a selection of whistleblowers spanning five decades. We selected a few stories that have set precedents in South Africa.

These cases offer only a glimpse into the experiences of South African whistleblowers. But what is clear is that, by fulfilling their public duty, they place themselves at great personal risk.

Adam Klein

Adam Klein was one of the rare whistleblowers who made a disclosure under apartheid rule. In 1980, Klein, a prosecutor in the Bantu Commissioner’s Court, refused to prosecute five black men under the pass regulations. These were a cornerstone of apartheid legislation, serving as an internal passport system to restrict the movement of non-whites and thus racially segregate the country.

Klein immediately faced retaliation. He was arrested under trumped-up charges, faced threats to his physical well-being and became subjected to surveillance.

He then made a public disclosure to the Sunday Times newspaper, exposing severe abuses at the Pretoria Bantu Commissioner’s Court. The disclosure revealed the inhumane nature of the pass laws, like detention of black people who failed to produce passes.

Klein faced further backlash and had to temporarily relocate to Namibia for his safety. On his return to South Africa, he continued to be subjected to surveillance and interrogation. He passed away in 2011, unacknowledged and without posthumous recognition.

Andries Jacobs

Andries Jacobs, an inspector at the Gauteng Provincial Traffic Department in the town of Benoni, would become known as the whistleblower who exposed police dogs being set on migrants. In January 1998, Jacobs recorded six policemen, who were part of the North East Rand Police dog unit, inciting their dogs to attack Mozambican migrants. Jacobs submitted the bombshell video footage to the Police Commissioner, the Minister for Safety and Security, and the South African Broadcasting Corporation.

The six police officers were eventually arrested in November 2000, nearly a full three years after the incident occurred. On the day of their arrest, the video footage was broadcast on national television. The policemen were charged and received prison sentences of four to five years.

Yet, Jacobs was suspended from work two days after the policemen were arrested. After eventually returning to work, he had to spend a year in the witness protection programme. Jacobs never returned to his original work duties, having not received a duty roster or any equipment to fulfil his role obligations.

Jacobs eventually faced dismissal for the unauthorised use of a video camera to record the “police training exercises”. By 2005, his life had been significantly strained. He received death threats, eventually leading to ongoing stress and a divorce.

Tatolo Setlai

One of the landmark cases of disclosure following the implementation of the Protected Disclosures Act in 2000 is that of Tatolo Setlai. In 2001, the Jali Commission of Inquiry revealed widespread corruption in South Africa’s prisons. Setlai, the head of Grootvlei Prison in Bloemfontein, permitted four prisoners to secretly record prison officials engaging in illegal acts – selling a loaded firearm, drugs, and alcohol; and facilitating the sexual exploitation of a juvenile.

This footage was broadcast on national television. The Department of Correctional Services did not adequately address the disclosure. Rather it subjected Setlai to victimisation and harassment. He faced trumped-up charges and was at the mercy of bogus disciplinary hearings.

Setlai was dismissed but eventually returned to his position after an arduous process with his employer at the Labour Court.

‘Stan’ and ‘John’

Under Jacob Zuma’s presidency (2009-2018), South Africa graduated from “ordinary” corruption. Private firms and individuals exploited corrupt public officials to manipulate key state structures for their personal benefit, and this would come to be understood as state capture.

Much of what was detailed during this time was the result of whistleblowers’ disclosures. Two anonymous whistleblowers, “Stan” and “John”, furnished landmark evidence to support the state capture allegations. They provided Brian Currin, a human rights lawyer, with hard drives containing hundreds of thousands of emails that detailed the nefarious relationship between the Gupta family, the Zuma family, ministers, and heads of state-owned enterprises. The Gupta family – three influential siblings and businessmen originating from India – were fingered as the key drivers behind state capture.

Stan and John’s disclosure became known as the Gupta Leaks. They were used as official evidence at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture.

The two Gupta Leaks whistleblowers remain anonymous and have relocated abroad for their physical safety.

Paying with their lives

A number of whistleblowers have lost their lives as a consequence of disclosure.

Jimmy Mohlala, the Speaker of the Mbombela Municipality, was murdered in front of his home after he exposed tender irregularities related to the construction of the Mbombela Stadium for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. His son was injured in the attack.

Moss Phakoe, an African National Congress municipal councillor since 2002, was also shot in front of his home. He and a colleague compiled a dossier that exposed corruption in the Bojanala Platinum District Municipality. Phakoe’s report implicated the former mayor of Bojanala, who was convicted of the murder. The conviction was later overturned as several state witnesses retracted their testimonies.

The murder of Babita Deokaran, Acting Chief Financial Officer of the Gauteng Department of Health at the time of her death, attracted nationwide attention. She had uncovered extensive corruption in the Department and submitted evidence of this to the relevant authorities. She would later investigate corruption related to the procurement of personal protective equipment during the COVID pandemic.

Deokaran was on the brink of making a disclosure pertaining to the COVID-related corruption when assassins shot her after she dropped her child off at school. Six hitmen were arrested for the assassination, but the mastermind remains at large.

Lessons

The frequency and severity of retaliation against South African whistleblowers is alarming.

We conclude from our analysis that the problem resides in a failure of the government to recognise the dire situation South African whistleblowers find themselves in, compounded by lacklustre whistleblower protection legislation.

There has, however, been a signal of intent (and some action) in wanting to reinforce (or rebuild) South Africa’s whistleblower protection legislation.

But this has to be accompanied by political will to adequately implement the new legislation. There also has to be steadfast broader governmental sanctioning against those who do wrong.

Written by Ugljesa Radulovic, Senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Johannesburg, and Tina Uys, Professor of Sociology, University of Johannesburg.

Republished with permission from The Conversation. The original article can be found here.

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Pieterson was formerly employed at the Department of Home Affairs office in Calvinia in the Northern Cape, where she abused her access to departmental records to commit fraud and corruption between February 2019 and September 2022.

She did this by opening funeral policies on clients’ identity numbers, nominating herself as the beneficiary, then falsely declaring the holders of the ID numbers as deceased in order to access the payouts.

The department said it would continue to monitor the case as Pieterson is scheduled to be sentenced on 26 January 2026.

“This latest successful conviction is another step forward in our ongoing work to clean up Home Affairs. It is the ninth conviction secured through the collaboration between the department and law enforcement agencies. It also follows the dismissal of 37 officials since July 2024.

“I applaud the department’s Counter Corruption unit for this conviction, as well as our partners in the Hawks and other entities.”

The Minister said the modus operandi used in this case confirmed the fundamental importance of the digital transformation agenda.

“By fully automating and digitalising all departmental processes, as we are doing through the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) for visas and through Digital ID for civics services, we will eliminate the space for human discretion and interference exploited by criminals like Pieterson.

“We are absolutely determined to both put criminal officials behind bars, while simultaneously using technology to close the loopholes they exploit. This is how we can defeat the scourge of corruption once and for all,” the Minister said.

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“This staggering sum, intended for the provision of healthcare to the most vulnerable, was instead ruthlessly siphoned off through a complex web of fraud and corruption, representing an egregious betrayal of the nation’s trust,” Head of the SIU, Advocate Andy Mothibi said on Monday 29 September.

Addressing the media at the hospital where an interim report on the investigation on corruption at the facility was released, Mothibi said as complex as the probe had been, they had been able to uncover irregularities, fraudulent activities and corrupt activities by officials and service providers.

In September 2022, the Office of the Premier referred matters to the SIU to be investigated. The unit has since then analysed at least 2 207 procurement bundles.

“Key officials from the Gauteng Department of Health (GDOH) and Tembisa Hospital are accused of benefiting from corrupt payments that facilitated the irregular appointment of service providers, involving money laundering and fraud through fronting and the use of false Supply Chain Management documentation,” Mothibi said.

The investigation currently involves 207 service providers which traded with the Tembisa Hospital under 4 501 purchase orders (PO). Each PO is linked to a purported three-quote procurement process purportedly involving three competing bidders.

“These numbers are constantly updated as new companies are identified through ongoing investigations and the flow of funds involving irregularly appointed service providers at the Tembisa Hospital,” Mothibi said.

The syndicates are the Maumela syndicate, Mazibuko syndicate and the X syndicate.

The Maumela syndicate is linked to Hangwani Morgan Maumela; the Mazibuko syndicate is linked to Rudolph Mazibuko while investigations are continuing into the X syndicate.

The SIU is reviewing 1728 bundles worth R816 560 710 related to the Maumela syndicate and has completed 924 analyses, uncovering significant irregularities.

The SIU has also traced 41 suppliers or service providers linked to Maumela; three of the companies that were awarded contracts to the value of R13 538 292 in this syndicate are linked to Vusimuzi Matlala.

With regard to the Mazibuko syndicate, the SIU reviewed 651 bundles valued at R283 504 291, with 392 completed analyses revealing assets worth R42 646 502, including multiple properties in the Western Cape and Gauteng.

With regard to X syndicate, the SIU is currently assessing 1237 procurement bundles, valued at R596 424 356.

Apart from these syndicates, the SIU also uncovered other syndicates which have looted millions at the hospital.

Mothibi said the SIU’s evidence has revealed that the total value of corrupt payments linked to officials and employees of GDOH and Tembisa Hospital is R122 228 000.

“The SIU has identified at least 15 current and former officials involved in activities such as corruption, money laundering, collusion and bid rigging with improperly appointed service providers at Tembisa Hospital.

“These individuals abused their positions throughout the procurement process to benefit these providers and enrich themselves. The number of identified officials is expected to rise as the investigation continues. The officials range from entry-level clerks to management-level officials,” he said.

The SIU has prepared 116 disciplinary referrals against 13 officials, of which 108 were delivered to the GDOH relating to maladministration, as well as the irregular appointment of service providers at the hospital.

Health Minister, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi, said the corruption could not have taken place if it was not for the assistance of corrupt officials both at the hospital and Gauteng Health Department.

He said while investigations are continuing, there was a need to look at the officials at the department. “Whistle blowers must be protected and those involved in corruption must be removed from society,” he said.

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