The Whistleblowers

Mandy Wiener

Description

UPDATED EDITION

With corruption and fraud endemic in democratic South Africa, whistleblowers have provided an invaluable service to society through disclosures about cover-ups, malfeasance and wrongdoing. Their courageous acts have resulted in the recovery of millions of rands to the fiscus and to their fellow citizens as well as in improved transparency and accountability.

But in most cases, the outcomes for the whistleblowers themselves are devastating. Some have been gunned down 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 are pushed to the fringes of society.

These are the evocative accounts of South Africa’s whistleblowers, told in their own voices, from across the country. The Whistleblowers also advocates for a change in legislation, organisational support and social attitudes in order to embolden others to have the courage to step up.

Photographs by Felix Dlangamandla

Sujets

• Abductions
• Political Science
• Republic of South Africa
• 21st century
• South Africa
• Misconduct
• True crime
• Violent crime
• General officer
• Political corruption
• 20th century
• Organized crime
• International English
• Murder
• General
• Corruption
• Afrique du Sud

Informations

• Publié par: Pan Macmillan South Africa
• Date de parution: 03 avril 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9781770108486
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

Also by Mandy Wiener
Ministry of Crime: An Underworld Explored (2018)
‘To be able to pierce the psychologies of these players in what has proved to be a bloodthirsty game that has cost South Africa billions of rand is an exceptional feat on the part of Wiener. One would imagine her research has come at great personal sacrifice, and every praise she is afforded is thoroughly deserved. Ministry of Crime confirms her as the country’s preeminent nonfiction crime writer.’– john harvey , Sunday Independent
Behind the Door: The Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp Story (with Barry Bateman) (2014)
‘Definitive, engrossing, fascinating, brilliant and utterly unputdownable. Wiener has no equal when it comes to true crime, and Bateman’s first-journalist-on-the-crime-scene insight gives it a huge boost.’ – deon meyer
My Second Initiation: The Memoir of Vusi Pikoli (with Vusi Pikoli) (2013)
‘An account that is as bold, honest and truthful as it is painful and discomforting. Vusi Pikoli is a person of unquestionable integrity, for which South Africa will be eternally grateful.’ – barney pityana
Killing Kebble: An Underworld Exposed (2011)
‘After five years of following every thread and detail of the Kebble case Wiener not only had a complex story to which few other journalists had access, but also the perspective needed to turn it into a riveting bestseller that would be both insightful and accessible.’ – mail & guardian

The Whistleblowers
Mandy Wiener
With photographs by Felix Dlangamandla
UPDATED EDITION
MACMILLAN

First published in 2020
by Pan Macmillan South Africa
This edition published in 2023 by Pan Macmillan South Africa
Private Bag x 19
Northlands
2116
Johannesburg
South Africa
www.panmacmillan.co.za
isbn 978-1-77010-847-9
e-isbn 978-1-77010-848-6
In the text © Mandy Wiener 2023, 2020
In the photographs © Felix Dlangamandla 2023, 2020
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
Every attempt has been made to ensure the accuracy of the details, facts, names, places and events mentioned in these pages, but the publisher and author welcome any feedback, comments and/or corrections on the content, which is based on numerous interviews, court documents, newspaper and news reports, author experiences and other sources. Right of reply has been offered wherever appropriate.
Editing by Alison Lowry
Proofreading by Sally Hines
Design and typesetting by Triple M Design, Johannesburg
Cover design by publicide
All photographs by Felix Dlangamandla

‘I don’t like the term “whistleblower”. It’s impersonal. It’s like a shadowy, faceless, voiceless person in an underworld who has no family, has no soul. It’s almost a ghost. But I guess it’s a whistleblower because most of us are anonymous. We don’t get awards. We don’t get money. We are heroes. We are warriors. And you need to recognise that. Investigative journalists call us “sources”. No. I am a human being. I am a sister. I am a lover. I’m a career person. I have aspirations. I’m a human being. And where do you get your sources from? You get it from us. You guys go back to the office, write a story, you are paid. I am not paid. I have given up my livelihood, risked my life for South Africa, and I’m left with the aftermath of unemployment, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety. You can name it. Criminal charges, everything. You guys go back to work on Monday. You get an award, you get paid, you get a pat on the back. Nobody recognises or funds us for the aftermath and it’s ugly. It’s nonsense. We are heroes. We are not whistleblowers.’
– mosilo mothepu, former trillian financial advisory ceo

Contents
about the photographer
introduction
1. ‘Hate Me, But Don’t Hurt Me’ – Moss Phakoe and Corruption in the Rustenburg Municipality
2. Holding the Bread Line – The Legacy of Imraahn Ismail-Mukaddam
3. Up in Arms – Patricia de Lille and Sue Delique
4. Murder Inc in the Wild East – The Mpumalanga Crocodiles and the 2010 World Cup
5. Captain Kirk and the Starship e-Toll
6. The Hard Drive that Sparked a New Dawn – GuptaLeaks
7. Milking the State – The Tragedy of the Estina Dairy Farm
8. ‘Just a Headline’ – Suzanne Daniels and Connecting the Dots at Eskom
9. Skin in the Game – Bianca Goodson, McKinsey Slayer
10. Walking into a Shitstorm – Simphiwe Mayisela and the PIC
11. Troublemaking Women – Rosemary Hunter, Michelle Mitchley and the Case of the Unpaid Benefits
12. Stalin and the Chicken – Angelo Agrizzi, Andries van Tonder and Bosasa
13. A Badge of Honour – Thabiso Zulu and the Political Violence of KZN
14. ‘An Island in a Sea of Corruption’ – Babita Deokaran and Tembisa Hospital
Postscript
Conclusion
notes
references and source material
acknowledgements




About the Photographer
Felix Dlangamandla currently works for Daily Maverick and prior to that was at Media24, but he started his career when the South African newspaper Beeld hired him in 2003. Previously, he had taken on odd jobs and internships and had completed a diploma in photography.
Felix was one of a handful of photographers who saw the tragic story of Marikana unfold, having spent days at the infamous koppie in the small North West mining town.
Besides covering what often become violent protests in South Africa, he witnessed and told the story of the death of a giant: the passing of Nelson Mandela.
Felix continues to cover the ever-changing political landscape and manages to capture glimmers of hope and happiness, even in a hostile environment where the majority of people live in abject poverty.
Felix has also built up a portfolio outside South Africa. In 2008, he captured the post-election violence in Kenya; in 2010, he covered the aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Haiti; and, in 2011, he recorded the tsunami disaster in Japan.

Over the years, his work has won several awards. Some of the accolades include the 2007 SAB Sport Journalist of the Year award, the 2010 Mondi Shanduka News Photography Award and, in 2003, a Commendation for Features Photography. He won the Beeld Photographer of the Year award in 2005 and was runner-up at the 2011 Media24 Legends Awards in the Photographer of the Year category.
‘Photography is truth’ is a quote by Jean-Luc Godard that Felix feels sums up his career. His passion is to capture the truths of the human experience, which he sees as the greatest privilege that goes with calling himself a news photographer.


Introduction
W hat do you expect when you’re going to meet a ghost?
In the middle of a blustery winter’s day I sat on a pavement outside a popular city restaurant. The spot I was parked at was an unlikely choice of meeting place for a clandestine, face-to-face encounter that had been shrouded in secrecy. As I sipped on my lukewarm coffee, I realised I knew very little about the person I was due to meet. Would they be South African or foreign? Short, tall? Old, young? Male, female? Sane or not? And did any of that truly matter?
I met this individual several more times over the next few months as they vacillated on whether to go public and reveal their identity, or stay anonymous. In the end, they chose the latter. Over the next year I had many more meetings with other whistleblowers, each engaged in their own inner turmoil around whether or not to emerge from hiding. Some agreed to do so but many did not. For those who did not, they believed the risk outweighed the reward.
This is the ultimate dilemma for a whistleblower. Full disclosure can often be the best protection – once there is nothing to hide and you are in the full glare of the public, not only is an enormous weight lifted from you, but you are also unlikely to be targeted. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. But there is a different kind of vulnerability that comes with exposing your identity. A scrutiny of your motives and your intentions and your agendas. It can be safer to stay in the shadows where no one knows it was you and you can disappear into a mundane existence without unwanted attention.
Meeting and listening to that first whistleblower was the genesis for this book. They impressed on me the impact blowing the whistle can have on the people who decide to do so. So often whistleblowers make an enormous contribution in exposing the truth but in doing so they can be placing themselves in great danger. Their lives are turned upside down. They face the prospect of unemployment. While everyone else moves on and forgets about them, they are left alone in the dark, desperately trying to feel their way out of a situation they did not foresee, continually haunted by fear and uncertainty.
I wanted to tell these stories and ensure that they are recorded for posterity. I wanted to remind us all about the humanity behind them and of the great debt we as so many owe to so few. Perhaps it will change the culture of the country and how whistleblowers are perceived. Instead of being labelled impimpis, snitches and traitors, maybe whistleblowers will be celebrated as the heroes they are. That is my hope.
Daniel Ellsberg. Edward Snowden. Mark Felt. Chelsea Manning. Katherine Gun. John Githongo.
These are some of the most famous whistleblowers in modern history. Their names will be familiar to many South Africans while, ironically, those of fellow citizens who have made signif