The South African government will introduce the Whistleblower Protection Bill in Parliament this year in a demonstration of support for those who speak out against the scourge of corruption.
This according to Department of Public Service and Administration Minister, Inkosi Mzamo Buthelezi.
Buthelezi was addressing the media on the outcomes of the inaugural meeting of the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group (ACWG) Technical Meeting held this week.
“We must…recognise the indispensable role of whistleblowers in uncovering corruption. Their courage in exposing wrongdoing often comes at a significant personal risk. Therefore, enhancing whistleblower protection remains at the top of our priorities as government.
“South Africa is set to introduce the Whistleblower Protection Bill in Parliament this year reinforcing our commitment to strengthen legal safeguards for those who report corruption.
“We do this knowing very well that whistleblowers are the cornerstone of our fight against corruption,” he said.
Buthelezi described the ACWG technical meeting – which was attended by representatives from the G20 countries – as a “cornerstone in our roadmap to combat corruption”.
“These discussions will culminate in the G20 Anti-Corruption ministerial meeting where members states will reaffirm their commitment to the primary objective of the [ACWG] which is to eradicate corruption through inter alia, strengthening the public sector by promoting transparency, accountability and ethical leadership and by fostering international cooperation,” the Minister said.
During the meeting of the ACWG, South Africa called for international cooperation in fighting corruption.
“We emphasised the importance of international cooperation and explored mechanisms to enhance the implementation of…legal instruments which G20 members have endorsed.
“A unified and coordinated global response is critical to closing the gaps that allow corruption to thrive. Deliberations focused on harmonising national laws with international standards to create a robust legislation that enhances legal recourse and restores public confidence in our justice system.
“Establishing uniform standards across G20 countries is essential for effective cross border against corruption,” Buthelezi said.
He emphasised the importance of transparency in the public sector as another critical tool in combatting the scourge.
“The meeting also highlighted the need for greater transparency in the public sector including enhancing transparency, accountability and ethical leadership mechanisms.
“Transparency is…a powerful tool in combatting corruption as it reduces opportunity for misconduct and fostering a culture of integrity,” he said.
The Minister said the meeting this week has laid a “robust foundation for the next phases of our work”.
The next meetings of the ACWG will be held in Brazil and Mpumalanga.
“As we prepare for the upcoming meetings…our focus will remain on building consensus around actionable commitments that go beyond policy declarations and resulting in tangible action against corruption.
“Maintaining open and transparent communication about our progress is very important. The fight against corruption is not just a legal or institutional challenge, but also a battle for public trust.
“By keeping our citizens informed and engaged, we reinforce the message that corruption has no place in our societies and that integrity will be the cornerstone of governance worldwide,” Buthelezi said. – SAnews.gov.za
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Fun South African Fact: South African fish migration is so huge you can see it from space.
Whipsaw
The Man who could only Drink Milk
I know an old man who had lived a life full of adventure, but his health started to catch up with him. He\’d run the Boston Marathon, was an avid surfer, and climbed Everest, but he\’d started to have abdominal pains around his 85th birthday and went to see a doctor. Sadly, he ultimately was diagnosed with a rare degenerative liver disease that slowly made him allergic to everything he ate.
He kept copious notes, and as an avid gastronomist slowly grew to despair as everything he\’d spent his life enjoying became something he could no longer eat. Alcohol went first, then mushrooms, then bread, then root vegetables, then coffee, one at a time he had to remove them from his diet. The doctor was clear: if he kept eating something his liver rejected the autoimmune response would be quick and severe, and would lead to a painful death. Little by little, everything was taken away as an option, until the only thing that remained was milk.
In some ways, this actually made life easier, because the mental strain of remembering what he could and couldn\’t eat was gone, but then so was the joy in variety. But he took it in stride, and got his own cow and took classes from a farmer to learn everything he could about the only thing that could give him sustenance. And even within milk, he could still have yogurt, butter, cream, some cheeses, and other milk-derived products he hadn\’t fully rejected yet, so it wasn\’t all bad. But then one day a few months later he felt the pain again, and he knew cow\’s milk was no longer an option.
Lacking other options, he tried goat\’s milk, and he was delighted that it worked! The protein structure is just different enough that his body still tolerated it. That bought him another month. And that\’s when we came up with a wonderful plan to go on one last grand adventure around the world. If he could get one month of life out of the milk of every mammal, he\’d actually have a few more years to enjoy life to the fullest and see the world in all its beauty. Each month, we\’d pick a place with a new mammal, and he would immerse himself fully with the locals, learn all the ways to prepare the milk, and just enjoy the hand he had been dealt as much as he could.
We milked sheep in New Zealand. Camels in Egypt. Zebras in South Africa. Giant bats in Indonesia. Do you know how many Peruvian cuy you need to milk to get a single glass? I do. Even as his health slowly faded, he stayed cheerful, and I felt lucky to join him on the adventure of a lifetime. That brings us to today when he got to the very end of his spreadsheet, and declared that he was now allergic to every mammal. He\’d enjoyed his journey, but his time had come to an end, for there was nothing left to milk.
To which I said nonsense, I bet we can milk a few thousand karma out of this post.