This year's “Blueprint for Free Speech Whistleblowing Awards”, held on Wednesday, highlighted the extreme threats faced by South Africans who come forward to expose wrongdoing.
Four SA whistle-blowers, including the slain Babita Deokaran, were honoured at the awards which were held in a virtual ceremony hosted by the BBC's Razia Iqbal.
Francois van der Westhuizen and Pieter Snyders, who provided evidence of a dirty tricks campaign allegedly waged by tobacco giant BAT in Africa, were announced as joint winners of the UK Whistleblowing Prize. They shared their award with Paul Hopkins, who blew the whistle on BAT's activities in Kenya in 2015 and triggered a major investigation by the UK's Serious Fraud Office.
There were also special recognition awards for Deokaran and Thabiso Zulu, who called out alleged municipal corruption in KwaZulu-Natal.
Deokaran, 53, died in a hail of bullets outside her home in Johannesburg in August.
The award citation said Deokaran was a key witness in a criminal investigation into alleged corruption around the procurement of essential personal protective equipment for medics in the front line of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It was a classic case of a whistle-blower with inside w information who was a key witness in a long-running investigation into alleged government corruption in SA — and it cost Babita Deokaran her life,” Blueprint for Free Speech said.
It said Zulu has called out large-scale corruption, the looting of municipal resources, poor service delivery, police brutality, and politically-motivated killings of activists by politicians in KwaZulu-Natal.
It said as a result, Zulu has been arrested, tortured, and had those close to him killed, including ANC Youth League secretary-general Sandiso Magaqa.
Van der Westhuizen, who was interviewed for the virtual ceremony, recounted some of the threats he and his family had experienced after speaking about his former employers, Forensic Security Services, and their major client BAT.
He said his home was petrol bombed before he was due to testify at an inquiry.
“As I was testifying in the departmental hearing they broke into my wife's school where she was working and stole a cellphone and a laptop.
“It didn't stop with my wife. My daughter's car got attacked by a man on a motorbike, which damaged the car. My son's bicycle was stolen as he went to school.”
Suelette Dreyfus, executive director of Blueprint for Free Speech, 2021 has placed the spotlight on whistle-blowers in SA and the dangers they face.
“The murder of Babita Deokaran, the ill-treatment of Thabiso Zulu, the assassination of his friend Sindiso Magaqa, and the departure of Athol Williams have all raised international awareness of the plight of whistle-blowers in SA,” Dreyfus said.
TimesLIVE
Awards show danger SA whistle-blowers face
Four SA whistle-blowers, including the slain Babita Deokaran, were honoured at the “Blueprint for Free Speech Whistleblowing Awards”, which were held this week.
Image: Supplied
This year's “Blueprint for Free Speech Whistleblowing Awards”, held on Wednesday, highlighted the extreme threats faced by South Africans who come forward to expose wrongdoing.
Four SA whistle-blowers, including the slain Babita Deokaran, were honoured at the awards which were held in a virtual ceremony hosted by the BBC's Razia Iqbal.
Francois van der Westhuizen and Pieter Snyders, who provided evidence of a dirty tricks campaign allegedly waged by tobacco giant BAT in Africa, were announced as joint winners of the UK Whistleblowing Prize. They shared their award with Paul Hopkins, who blew the whistle on BAT's activities in Kenya in 2015 and triggered a major investigation by the UK's Serious Fraud Office.
There were also special recognition awards for Deokaran and Thabiso Zulu, who called out alleged municipal corruption in KwaZulu-Natal.
Deokaran, 53, died in a hail of bullets outside her home in Johannesburg in August.
The award citation said Deokaran was a key witness in a criminal investigation into alleged corruption around the procurement of essential personal protective equipment for medics in the front line of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It was a classic case of a whistle-blower with inside w information who was a key witness in a long-running investigation into alleged government corruption in SA — and it cost Babita Deokaran her life,” Blueprint for Free Speech said.
It said Zulu has called out large-scale corruption, the looting of municipal resources, poor service delivery, police brutality, and politically-motivated killings of activists by politicians in KwaZulu-Natal.
It said as a result, Zulu has been arrested, tortured, and had those close to him killed, including ANC Youth League secretary-general Sandiso Magaqa.
Van der Westhuizen, who was interviewed for the virtual ceremony, recounted some of the threats he and his family had experienced after speaking about his former employers, Forensic Security Services, and their major client BAT.
He said his home was petrol bombed before he was due to testify at an inquiry.
“As I was testifying in the departmental hearing they broke into my wife's school where she was working and stole a cellphone and a laptop.
“It didn't stop with my wife. My daughter's car got attacked by a man on a motorbike, which damaged the car. My son's bicycle was stolen as he went to school.”
Suelette Dreyfus, executive director of Blueprint for Free Speech, 2021 has placed the spotlight on whistle-blowers in SA and the dangers they face.
“The murder of Babita Deokaran, the ill-treatment of Thabiso Zulu, the assassination of his friend Sindiso Magaqa, and the departure of Athol Williams have all raised international awareness of the plight of whistle-blowers in SA,” Dreyfus said.
TimesLIVE
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