New Bill Still Leaves Whistleblowers Exposed

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) welcomes the publication of the Protected Disclosures Bill, 2026 for public comment. The Bill is an important acknowledgement that South Africa’s current whistleblower protection framework has failed too many of the people who risked everything to expose corruption, state capture and abuse of power.

There are important improvements in the Bill. It broadens protection beyond traditional employees, extends safeguards to related persons such as family members and associates, strengthens confidentiality, creates a clearer reporting and investigation framework, and introduces stronger remedies against retaliation. These are meaningful reforms and reflect long-standing concerns raised by the Zondo Commission and subsequent anti-corruption reform efforts.

However, the key question is not whether the Bill is better than the current law on paper. The real question is whether it will protect a whistleblower in practice when they are up against a powerful employer and a politically connected network, or an institution with money, lawyers and influence.

On that test, OUTA believes the Bill still falls short.

South Africa’s lived experience has shown that whistleblowers do not only face dismissal or disciplinary action, but very often face trumped-up charges which drag on for months and even years. They face intimidation, blacklisting, financial ruin, reputational attacks, threats to their families and, in some cases, assassination. A law that improves reporting procedures but leaves whistleblowers to fight for survival through long, expensive and fragmented legal processes is not yet a system that truly protects them.

While the Bill makes progress, it remains too dependent on existing institutions and on the ability of whistleblowers to navigate complex processes and, often, go to court. Even where the Bill provides for legal assistance and stronger anti-retaliation measures, the reality is that many who make protected disclosures will still be at the mercy of employers and institutions with deeper pockets and greater staying power.

OUTA believes Parliament should use this opportunity to go further.

South Africa needs a properly resourced, independent whistleblower protection mechanism with the power to receive disclosures, coordinate investigations, provide rapid-response protection, support high-risk whistleblowers and their families, and ensure that any retaliation is dealt with swiftly and decisively.

The Bill should also be strengthened to provide immediate emergency support in high-risk cases, including relocation, income support, psychosocial care, and physical and digital security. Legal assistance should be available early and practically, not only once a whistleblower is already deep in a court or tribunal process. The law should also expressly guard against vexatious lawsuits, abusive confidentiality claims and other tactics used to silence those who speak out.

OUTA further believes that support for whistleblowers should not depend only on the remote possibility of a later financial award after conviction. South Africa should establish a dedicated support fund to assist whistleblowers who suffer retaliation, loss of livelihood or threats to their safety because they acted in the public interest.

OUTA Executive Director Stefanie Fick said: “The Protected Disclosures Bill is a welcome step in the right direction, but it is not yet the breakthrough South Africa needs. Whistleblowers remain one of the country’s most important defences against corruption, yet too many have paid with their jobs, their health, their finances and even their lives. If the government is serious about encouraging people to come forward, then it must do more than promise legal protection on paper. It must build a protection system that works in the real world, especially when whistleblowers are taking on powerful people and well-resourced institutions.”

Fick added: “The real test of this Bill is simple: will it protect an ordinary person who exposes serious wrongdoing, or will that person still be left to fend for themselves against an employer with money, lawyers and influence? OUTA believes Parliament must strengthen this Bill so that whistleblowers are not left at the mercy of those they expose.”

OUTA will be studying the Bill in more detail and will make submissions aimed at strengthening the protection, support and practical remedies available to whistleblowers in both the public and private sectors.

South Africa does not only need a whistleblowing law. It needs a whistleblower protection system that works.