Dear Editor
The Democratic Alliance (DA) calls on Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi to table the long-promised Whistleblower Protections Bill in Parliament without delay.
In February, President Ramaphosa told the nation that the Bill would be introduced this financial year. Months later, nothing has happened.
Meanwhile, whistle-blowers, lawyers, and prosecutors and police officers are being assassinated in plain sight.
The brutal murder of Bouwer van Niekerk, shot dead at his law firm while working to expose corruption, has confirmed what South Africans already know: we are now living in a mafia state. Members of the SAPS, prosecutors, whistle-blowers, witnesses and members of the legal fraternity are being gunned down to subvert the course of justice, and it is being done with impunity.
The Zondo Commission made its recommendations more than three years ago. Civil society, legal experts, and organisations like Corruption Watch have offered detailed proposals on how the law must change — from extending protection to contractors and external whistleblowers, to establishing a fund for legal and security support, to imposing real sanctions on those who intimidate whistleblowers.
The DA has drafted a Private Members Bill in order to dramatically extend the provisions of witness and whistle-blower protection, but from the Department of Justice there is only a deafening silence.
Government continues to drag its feet.
What South Africans want is leadership that protects those who expose corruption, not leaders who hide behind excuses. The DA will not sit by while this Bill is buried in endless delays. We will fight to have it brought before Parliament, improved where necessary, and passed urgently.
This cannot continue. A mafia state survives when leaders are weak. The DA will not allow South Africa to sink any deeper into lawlessness. We will continue to make every effort to ensure that this matter receives attention at the highest levels.
Regards
Adv. Glynnis Breytenbach MP
DA Spokesperson on Justice and Constitutional Development