SA not against remunerating whistleblowers, says minister Mzamo Buthelezi – The Mail & Guardian

Public Service and Administration Minister Inkosi Mzamo Buthelezi

The South African government is not averse to paying whistleblowers, and the topic remains under discussion, Public Service and Administration Minister Mzamo Buthelezi has said.

“This is a platform where 20 countries come together, so any initiative that seeks to help us to advance our cause is welcome … if then, paying a whistleblower is also an option, I don’t think we are closed to that discussion, and seeing how far we can take it,” he said on Wednesday at the culmination of the G20 anti-corruption working group summit which started in Cape Town on Monday.

In his speech to the media, Buthelezi acknowledged the “indispensable role of whistleblowers”, saying they must be recognised for uncovering corruption.

“Their courage in exposing wrongdoing often comes at a significant personal risk. Therefore, enhancing whistleblower protection is at the top of the group’s list,” he said.

South Africa’s Whistleblower Protection Bill is expected to be presented in parliament this year. Discussion documents about it raise the possibility of awarding a percentage of funds recovered from crimes to whistleblowers, providing the information shared is material to recovery.

But the documents also warn that paying whistleblowers could encourage false or trivial reports — they might be incentivised to report trivial issues in pursuit of financial gain, potentially diverting attention from more serious cases​.

There is also a risk that whistleblowers could manipulate the system by fabricating cases or colluding with wrongdoers to create artificial fraud schemes​.

Establishing a reward system, according to the discussion documents, would also require significant financial and legal resources.

Special Investigating Unit (SIU) head advocate Andy Mothibi, who co-chaired the summit on behalf of South Africa alongside advocate Marcelo Pontes Vianna, Brazil’s secretary for private sector integrity, said financial incentives for whistleblowers was part of the discussions that were underway.

But South Africa already had some measures in place for whistleblowers whose lives had been threatened, he said.

“We have a focused programme at the SIU and the NPA [National Prosecuting Authority]. Once whistleblowers come forward, we work together as a cluster to ensure they are protected.”

Buthelezi said the fight against corruption was 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 integrity will be the cornerstone of governance worldwide.”

Recovery of stolen assets was paramount in the fight against corruption, he said, as was undertaken by the SIU.

Ethics should be part of curricula to help eradicate corruption and other crimes but it was not solely the role of universities or schools to teach it.

“It must be taught within families and communities,” Buthelezi said.

Asked about the intersection of ethics — or lack thereof — and cadre deployment, he said:  “We all appreciate that some of our challenges came about as a result of cadre deployment. Hence, as the department of public service and administration, we are tasked with professionalising the public service. But, if you go deeper into that, it does speak deeper to the issue of cadre deployment.”

The matter of professionalising the public sector had to be de-politicised, he said.  

“There have been professionals in the public service and we shouldn’t push the narrative that all public servants are not professional. The public service has been professional, but politics has interfered. Whoever comes into the public space now, that person must be fit and proper for the position.

“Norms and standards have been put in place so that politicians do not necessarily appoint staff in their offices who do not meet minimum requirements,” he said, adding that this had been taken further in that South African politics also had to be professionalised.

“As political parties, now, we are also trying to professionalise ourselves”, even though it was not a requirement of the government, he said.

The focus of the working group was on strengthening the public sector by promoting transparency, integrity and accountability; increasing the efficiency of asset recovery measures and enhancing and mobilising the inclusive participation of the public sector, private sector, civil society and academia to prevent and combat corruption.

The fourth area of focus was beefing up protection mechanisms for whistleblowers, which Buthelezi said on Monday was “the most important”.