The murder of a key witness in a high-profile commission has triggered urgent calls for a complete overhaul of South Africa’s approach to protecting whistleblowers, with advocates warning that the state’s failure to ensure anonymity is enabling a climate of fear and impunity.
The calls follow the killing of Marius van der Merwe, identified as Witness D at the Madlanga Commission, which is investigating graft, infiltration, and interference within the South African Police Service (SAPS). In a televised interview, Wayne Duvenage, CEO of the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), argued that the current system is catastrophically failing those who come forward.
“The whole whistleblower protection process needs to take a different approach,” Duvenage stated. “Protecting whistleblowers requires a very, very different approach. I don’t think the commission has been strong enough in that space.”
His comments came after Police Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi addressed van der Merwe’s death, stating that “transparency shouldn’t supersede people’s lives.” Duvenage agreed that while transparency in government procurement is vital, the safety of individuals must be paramount through robust anonymity.
“The point is that there’s a lot more that has to be done,” he said, advocating for ironclad measures including voice distortion and facial masking for witnesses who request confidentiality. “We need to ensure that nobody in that scenario is identifiable.”
The interview highlighted systemic failures beyond the commission. Duvenage cited the case of a whistleblower in the Department of Higher Education—under Minister Kubayi—who exposed corruption and was subsequently sidelined from work for months. He described a pattern where whistleblowers face trumped-up charges, job loss, and intimidation, leading to a chilling effect.
“Whistleblowers just fear for their lives. They don’t want to come forward but they’ve got so much vital information,” Duvenage explained. “We’ve got a couple of cases that are just so serious, but the whistleblower just refuses… because they will be identified.”
He identified a fundamental flaw in internal reporting channels within government departments, which are widely distrusted. “We need an entity, a mechanism that goes right to the top, that is absolutely safe, that is away from these various departments,” he proposed, calling for a well-funded, independent body established through legislation.
Duvenage placed responsibility at the highest levels of government, suggesting a lack of political will to address the crisis. “The problem is that so many people are compromised in higher positions of government that they don’t seem to have a desire to get on top of this challenge,” he said.
He warned that without immediate and serious intervention, South Africa risks descending into a “gangster state” like Colombia or Ecuador, where those who speak out are silenced. “We really need to go and find what’s best practice… We’ve got great laws, but we’ve got to start with cleaning out the rot,” Duvenage urged, emphasizing that protecting whistleblowers is essential to dismantling corrupt syndicates.
The Madlanga Commission is currently on a break until next year. Duvenage and other civil society leaders are now demanding that this period be used to implement rigorous witness protection reforms before proceedings resume.