South African whistle-blowers have again been recognised internationally at the Blueprint Whistleblowing Prizes — people who risked, and in several cases lost, careers, livelihoods and safety to say what they had seen.
The Blueprint Whistleblower Prizes and Special Recognition Awards acknowledge the recipient’s bravery, in the face of difficult ethical challenges, to reveal the truth, and their desire to create positive change in society. They are awarded for bravery, integrity and positive impact on the public interest.
Blueprint for Free Speech
An Accolade and an Indictment
This is both. We should be living in a society whose morals and norms leave no need for whistleblowing at all. That we need it — repeatedly, and at this cost — is the indictment.
But we should also be proud of the countrymen and women who have carried the spirit of our struggle for justice into this, and who form the thin line that protects the rest of us.
It is time to glorify — and to normalise — ethics, integrity, honesty and fairness, rather than ill-gotten wealth, power and extravagance.
Zondo, and a New Global Standard
Speaking about the 2022 award, Blueprint’s prize director recognised that the Zondo Commission — carried in large part by the evidence of whistle-blowers — has set a new global standard for what such an inquiry can establish.
South Africans were honoured in the previous round as well. The Daily Maverick reported on four South African whistle-blowers recognised at the 2021 Blueprint for Free Speech awards.
O believers! Stand firm for justice as witnesses for God even if it is against yourselves, your parents, or close relatives. Be they rich or poor, God is best to ensure their interests. So do not let your desires cause you to deviate from justice. If you distort the testimony or refuse to give it, then know that God is certainly All-Aware of what you do.
Qur’an 4:135
The verse does not make an exception for the cost of saying it. That is precisely what makes it demanding, and it is why these awards belong on a SAMNET page rather than only on a business one.
Shared by the South African Muslim Network. info@samnet.co.za