South African whistleblowers should get cut of fines when exposing corruption

[Nat Quinn]

Outgoing EOH CEO Stephen van Coller has said whistleblowers should receive a percentage of the fines levied against companies or individuals found guilty of wrongdoing.

“Giving them a percentage of the fine would really solve a lot of corruption issues for us,” Van Coller told the Sunday Times.

“At the moment in South Africa, you can be a whistleblower, but there’s no upside to it other than your integrity. There’s only a downside, and that can’t be right.”

The downside risk Van Coller is referring to includes jeopardising your career and placing your life in danger.

Former Gauteng health department acting CFO Babita Deokaran was infamously gunned down at her home in a townhouse complex in Winchester Hills in Johannesburg in August 2021.

Deokaran had exposed irregularities and fraud at the department.

Another whistleblower, Bradley Goldblatt, was targeted in a drive-by shooting in December 2020.

Goldblatt had alerted police that weaknesses in mobile networks’ Wireless Application Service Provider systems were used to track and assassinate Cape Town anti-gang unit section commander Lieutenant-Colonel Charl Kinnear.

In his interview with the Sunday Times, Van Coller said that they had set up an anonymous whistleblower tip-off line at EOH that had helped unravel the corruption at the company.

“When people felt I was serious about listening to them, we got a flood of information. You have to give them feedback so they know something is being done about it, and they have to know their anonymity is secure,” Van Coller stated.

He said that thanks to just one whistleblower who had used that anonymous tip-off line, they uncovered R300 million in fraud.

Van Coller said the whistleblower is still with EOH.

Critics of Van Coller’s proposal would argue that linking whistleblower rewards to fines could lead to unintended negative consequences by incentivising destructive behaviour.

For example, why would anyone use EOH’s anonymous whistleblower tip-off line if it were more profitable to run straight to authorities or the media?

Companies would also be even less likely to hire former whistleblowers.

Many companies already see someone with a track record of whistleblowing as potentially more interested in damaging their reputation than being productive.

Adding financial incentives for getting a company or individuals fined will exacerbate this issue.

While whistleblower reforms should acknowledge that such individuals often sacrifice their job prospects and personal safety for the greater good, it must also avoid creating poor incentives.

Companies trying to do the right thing should not be punished for doing so, and there must be meaningful consequences for malicious actors trying to score a big payday by ruining someone’s reputation.

 

source:South African whistleblowers should get cut of fines when exposing corruption (mybroadband.co.za)

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