Right2Know Campaign

R2K submission on draft Protected Disclosures Amendment Bill

by · Published · Updated

The Right2Know Campaign has commented on the Draft Protected Disclosures Amendment Bill following an invitation by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. The draft Bill has a number of positive changes that will help extend protection for whistleblowers in the workplace. This includes:

  • Widening the definition of who can receive protection for blowing the whistle, by extending “employee” to mean former employees of the State or corporate entities, and including ‘temporary employment services’ and ‘independent contractors’ in the those whose disclosures are to be protected;
  • Protecting whistleblowers from some forms of ‘retribution’ that were not envisaged in the existing Act – including civil claims made against those who disclose criminal offences;
  • Obliging those to who get whistleblower disclosures to investigate or refer to the matter elsewhere within a certain time period, and to keep the whistleblower updated on the matter
  • Allowing any worker subjected to occupational detriment to approach a court directly for appropriate relief, including the specification of appropriate remedies to be administered by a competent court;
  • Obliging employers to authorise appropriate internal procedures for receiving and dealing with information about improprieties as well as a duty to take reasonable steps to bring the internal procedures to the attention of all employees/workers.

​We also raised the concern that these positive amendments will be seriously undermined by the Protection of State Information Bill (the Secrecy Bill) if it passes into law.​ The Secrecy Bill still has glaring loopholes that criminalise whistleblowing.​ ​

But​ we believe that the crisis facing ​whistleblowers has political as well as legal dimensions. The institutional culture in the private and public sectors of South Africa must embrace whistleblowers as vital actors in our collective efforts to safeguard and deepen our democracy, not as ‘impimpis’, troublemakers and sell-outs. The draft amendments under discussion are a positive step forward. However, there is a great need for leadership from all state institutions, as well as the corporate sector, to show a commitment to promoting and protecting whistleblowing in our society.

You can download R2K Submission on Protected Disclosures Amendment Bill here.

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