School learners in Ekurhuleni did not hold back during a stakeholder engagement unpacking South Africa’s National Drug Master Plan (NDMP), confronting officials with blunt questions about drugs in schools, whistleblower protection and whether the government is truly ready to respond.

In many communities, crime is not always committed by strangers. Sometimes the person responsible is someone people know personally, a friend, neighbour, or even a family member. This raises a difficult and often emotional question: what should someone do if they know a loved one has committed a crime?

Financial support for those who speak out is coming, and lifestyle audits for prosecutors. Whistleblowers have often paid a heavy price for exposing corruption. Many have faced threats, job losses, violence and even death, with little in the way of state protection. Now, a long-awaited bill to protect them will be tabled.

Mtubatuba, KwaZulu-Natal – A breakthrough in a nearly four-year-old murder case has brought some relief to the family of slain Gauteng businessman and whistleblower Marumo Eric Phenya, as police arrested the alleged hitman in northern KwaZulu-Natal. Minenhle Mthembu, 30, is accused of gunning down Phenya in a hail of bullets in Roodepoort on 17 October 2022, shortly after the victim exposed corruption in a multimillion-rand tender at the Department of Home Affairs.

Co-chairperson of the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group, Advocate Andy Mothibi, says investigations into the murder of Babita Deokaran will be concluded soon.

There are growing concerns about the protection of forensic auditors and other government employees who face possible danger. The Whistleblower House executive director Ben Theron discusses the importance of safeguarding whistleblowers.