A deadly silence — SA’s failure to protect whistleblowers and human rights defenders
As killings of whistleblowers and activists go unpunished, South Africa's delayed legislative reforms expose a fatal lack of political will to protect those exposing corruption.
A deadly silence permeates South Africa's failure to safeguard whistleblowers and human rights defenders. The government's delayed legislative reforms illustrate a lack of political will to protect those exposing corruption, as whistleblower killings go unpunished. In 2021, Babita Deokaran was killed outside her Johannesburg home, and although her killers were convicted, those who ordered her murder remain at large.
Five years after Deokaran's death, the Zondo Commission recommended strengthening whistleblower legislation, yet little has changed. In 2023, the Department of Justice released a discussion document proposing reforms, but it took three years for the draft Protected Disclosures Bill to be released for public comment in 2026. The Bill faces parliamentary debate and approval, with no clear end in sight.
Deokaran's story is not an isolated incident but part of a pattern of intimidation and lethal violence against those exposing corruption and defending human rights in South Africa. Forensic investigator Cloete Murray and his son Thomas Murray were killed in 2023 during an ambush, and Mpho Mafole, an Ekurhuleni official, was killed in 2025 after raising concerns about a R1.8-billion chemical toilets tender.
These killings are part of a recurring pattern that demands urgent institutional action and accountability.
Written by urgent.news from Daily Maverick's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
