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Article

Open Access

Whistleblowing and Whistleblower Protection in South Africa (2001-2015): A Path Traversed

Author(s)

Abel J. Diale

Full-Text PDF Download XML 1411 Views

DOI:10.17265/1548-6591/2016.06.005

Affiliation(s)

Tshwane University of Technology, Pretoria, South Africa

ABSTRACT

Whistleblowing and whistleblower protection legislation has gained considerable amount of attention in recent past. The recognition of whistleblowing, with all its associated features, has become one of the important key features of the accountability infrastructure in modern organizations, with the potential for being advocacy for organizational integrity. As a result, there has been a flurry of legislations promoting and protecting whistleblowing and whistleblowers respectively. Open and honest disclosure within the realm of the law, has proved to be dangerous and considered a treasonous act, with the likelihood of getting one’s image tarnished or worse, silenced. This assertion is made in view of the limited scope and prescriptive measures provided for the current South African legislation, Protected Disclosures Act 2000 (Act 26 of 2000) and the proposed Protected Disclosures Amendment Bill 2015. This paper contends that there is still a long way in ensuring that whistleblowing becomes an integral part of the organizational culture in South Africa and the general public.

KEYWORDS

whistleblowing, protected disclosure, whistleblower protection

Cite this paper

Journal of US-China Public Administration, June 2016, Vol. 13, No. 6, 419-430

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