Loliwe Ngwenya looks at a photograph of her father Philemon ‘Booi’ Ngwenya. He was an intended beneficiary of the Estina Dairy Project and was outspoken about alleged corruption. Picture: Felix Dlangamandla
With corruption and fraud endemic in South Africa, whistleblowers have played a pivotal role in bringing wrongdoing to light. They have provided an invaluable service to society through disclosures about cover-ups, malfeasance, and wrongdoing. Some would argue it was whistleblowing that brought down a president and the corrupt “state capture” regime.
PROFILE | Mandy Wiener on whistleblowers
The Whistleblowers, the fifth book by best-selling author, Mandy Wiener, shines a light on their plight, advocating for a change in legislation, organisational support and social attitudes, in order to embolden more potential whistleblowers to have the courage to step up.
Here are the whistleblowers she spoke to, in pictures.
Moss Phakoe’s former colleague Alfred Motsi on his farm in the North West with his dog. He is no longer in politics.
Angelo Agrizzi, former Bosasa COO, at his marble dining room table in his house in Johannesburg.
Ex-Trillian Management Consulting CEO Bianca Goodson at home in Johannesburg.
Bonny Ndlazi, Jimmy Mohlala’s widow, on a street in Kanyamazane in Mpumalanga. Eleven years after the speaker of the local municipality was gunned down outside his house, no one has been convicted for the murder.
Supplied Felix Dlangamandla
Lawyer Brian Currin at his office in Sandton in Johannesburg.
Supplied Felix Dlangamandla
Pictures: Felix Dlangamandla
In most cases, the outcomes for the whistleblowers themselves are harrowing and devastating. Some have been shot in orchestrated assassinations, others have been threatened and targeted in sinister dirty-tricks campaigns. Many are hounded out of their jobs, ostracised, and victimised. They struggle to find employment and are pushed to the fringes of society.
Former DA councillor Doctor Radebe at the entrance to the Estina Dairy Farm in Vrede in the Free State.
Imraahn Ismail-Mukaddam outside the general dealer shop and bakery that used to belong to his family in Elsies River.
Loliwe Ngwenya looks at a photograph of her father Philemon ‘Booi’ Ngwenya. He was an intended beneficiary of the Estina Dairy Project and was outspoken about alleged corruption. Picture: Felix Dlangamandla
Local farmers in Vrede in the Free State Ephraim Dlamini (green shirt) and Meshack Ngcungwane (blue shirt) with their cattle on a field outside the town. They were intended beneficiaries of the Estina Dairy Farm project.
Michelle Mitchley just after moving into her new home in Johannesburg. She has a new job and is rebuilding her life.
Minister Patricia de Lille on the steps of the National Assembly two decades after she first revealed what became known as the ‘De Lille Dossier’.
Pictures: Felix Dlangamandla
The psychological burden of choosing to speak up when there has been little reward or compensation is a heavy one to carry.
Rosemary Hunter, a former executive at the FSCA, outside her office overlooking the Sandton skyline.
Former PIC head of information security risk and governance Simphiwe Mayisela at Monte Casino where the IT company he now owns was holding a conference.
Daily Maverick editor-in-chief Branko Brkic and AmaBhungane’s managing partner Stefaans Brümmer at the DM offices in Cape Town discussing the Guptaleaks.
Former Eskom company secretary Suzanne Daniels at her home in Pretoria.
Thabiso Zulu speaks on a video call from hiding in KwaZulu-Natal. He has already been wounded in an attempted assassination and his life remains in danger.
Tlholo Phakoe walks in the yard of the house in Rusteburg where his father, councillor Moss Phakoe, was gunned down in 2009.
Pictures: Felix Dlangamandla
Their status as whistleblowers is sometimes contentious – this book delves into whether they deserve the status or whether they were, in fact, complicit in the wrongdoing they claimed to expose. These are the raw and evocative accounts of South Africa’s whistleblowers, told in their own voices and from their own perspectives.
