COSATU against excluding public servants from whistleblowing rewards

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has raised concerns about public servants being excluded from receiving rewards for whistleblowing.

On Thursday, Minister of Justice Kubayi released the Protected Disclosure Bill to address the gaps in existing legislation on whistleblowers.

Deputy Minister Andries Nel explained that according to the bill, whistleblowers will not be awarded upfront rewards but could receive up to 25% of the monetary sanction imposed on a convicted employer.

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But he has explained that there are categories of people who are excluded from receiving such a reward.

“The first is someone who is in the public service, secondly someone who contemplated in Section 34 in the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, someone who provided such information as part of a plea agreement.”

But COSATU’s Matthew Parks said public servants being excluded is a flaw in the bill

“This is a fundamental flaw, as many public servants, particularly junior staff, are very vulnerable to victimisation. Equally, junior public procurement staff often have invaluable information about wrongdoing by senior management and service providers.”