Dr Nora Saneka|Published1 minute agoRemembering Babita Deokaran: The fight for whistleblower protections

Dr Nora Saneka, chairperson of the Active Citizens Movement (ACM) and Pops Rampersad, an executive committee member of ACM, at the unveiling of the bust of Babita Deokaran at the Shree Marieammen Temple in Mount Edgecombe. On National Women’s Day, we honour the bravery of whistleblowers like Babita Deokaran, who sacrificed their lives for justice and integrity in South Africa.Dr Nora Saneka, chairperson of the Active Citizens Movement(ACM),calls for urgent reforms to protect those who expose corruption and uphold the rule of law. GREETINGS to all those who are here today because they uphold our Constitutional Democracy and the rule of law.

We are here on National Women’s Day to value all those who have been brave enough to stand up against unjust power for the cause of human rights and ordinary moral goodness, in solidarity with the suffering poor in our society. In these dark times July 2021 was used as force, to show the power of the “Shadow State” (to use Jeff Wicks book title on Babita Deokaran’s death) to undermine the rule of law and blackmail the government to keep Zuma out of jail. This resulted in the looting of large corporate enterprises.

March and March and 30 June 2026 deadline against foreign nationals has instigated another round of looting, this time of the poor against other poor, once more as a way of ‘capturing’ authority that belongs to our government institutions, not to vigilante groups and undermine the rule of law. For example ACM itself has had its good name attacked, yet we simply want to stand in social solidarity with those who are suffering injustice and look up at the bright stars in this dark time, such as that of Babita Deokaran. It is unbearable to watch the suffering caused by corruption on the sidelines and we all need to become conscious of what we can do, not just by remembering them in the form of a memorial but by giving purpose and meaning to their sacrifice.

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We will always remember them and we call for National Whistleblowers Day on the August 23, the anniversary of her death. We must remember all not just Babita Deokaran, but also Jimmy Mohlala, Martha Ngoye, Cynthia Stimpel, Athol Williams and many others who reveal the personal cost of whistleblowing in South Africa and the lack of legal, security, financial, and psychosocial assistance and physical protection they received as they exposed lack of integrity and ethical practice shown in the corruption in government and state-owned enterprises. Following the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development’s publication of a discussion document on proposed reforms for the whistleblower protection regime in South Africa in 2023, President Cyril Ramaphosa in his State of the Nation address on February 6, 2025, made a commitment to “finalise the Whistleblower Protection Framework and introduce the Whistleblower Protections Bill in Parliament during this financial year.” In this regard ACM, after six years of active campaigning including our Orange Mask Campaign against PPE corruption at the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, submitted very specific and carefully formulated legal Whistleblower protections to be considered and included in this Bill.

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