1. Background and Rationale
Whistleblowing is a critical pillar of accountability, transparency, and ethical practice in workplaces across South Africa. While the Protected Disclosures Act (PDA) (Act 26 of 2000), its amendment, the PDAA (Act 5 of 2017), and related jurisprudence have been central to discussions on legal protections, much of the national discourse has remained at the level of whether whistleblowers are legally protected, less attention has been given to the practicalities of identifying, supporting, and managing whistleblowing processes within the workplace. Given the inherent role of whistleblowers as employees, who work across sectors, employers and workplace professionals have a pivotal role in how whistleblowing is handled, firstly from disclosure through to resolution, reparation, and potential reintegration. The upcoming South African Whistleblowing Code of Practice (to be published later this year) presents a timely opportunity to prepare workplace actors to align with best practice standards, not only in compliance but in building cultures of trust, ethics and integrity.
This workshop aims to deepen practical understanding of whistleblowing in the South African workplace by focusing on:
- The signs and symbols of a bona fide whistleblower.
- Strategies for addressing malicious or fake whistleblower claims.
- The role of employment law post-disclosure, particularly in securing reparations.
- The future of anonymised whistleblowing processes through unions, anonymising channels, civic tech, and secure IT systems.
2. Objectives
The workshop seeks to:
- Equip HR, training, compliance, and legal professionals with practical frameworks to identify, assess, and manage whistleblower reports effectively.
- Integrate the forthcoming Whistleblowing Code of Practice into organisational policies and operational procedures.
- Explore how employment law can be mobilised to provide support and reparations to whistleblowers beyond legal protection measures.
- Build capacity to detect and address false or malicious claims without undermining genuine whistleblowing efforts.
- Introduce and evaluate emerging anonymisation technologies and union-based protections that may shape the future of whistleblowing in South Africa.
3. Expected Outcomes and Contributions to Practice
This workshop will be highly interactive. It is not a succession of talking heads or panel discussions. Time is set aside for participant involvement, deliberation and skills application.
This workshop will advance whistleblowing practice in South Africa by:
- Moving beyond theoretical debates about legal protection to operationalising whistleblower support in workplaces.
- Building early detection and authenticity assessment skills among HR, compliance, and legal professionals.
- Preparing organisations for immediate alignment with the forthcoming Code of Practice.
- Encouraging adoption of innovative anonymity mechanisms that protect whistleblowers while safeguarding organisations from abuse.
- Strengthening the trust and legitimacy of workplace whistleblowing systems, contributing to broader national anti-corruption efforts.
4. Target Participants
The workshop will target the following participants:
- HR Managers: for their role in employee relations and policy enforcement.
- Training Managers: to embed whistleblowing awareness into organisational culture.
- Compliance Officers: as custodians of ethical governance.
- Labour Lawyers: for the interpretation and application of labour and disclosure laws in complex cases.
5. Methodology
The workshop will be delivered using:
- Expert presentations from legal practitioners, civic tech innovators, and labour relations specialists.
- Case study analysis of South African whistleblowing incidents.
- Group exercises to simulate whistleblowing response procedures.
- Policy review sessions to align organisational processes with the forthcoming Code of Practice.
These workshops will be carried out in Johannesburg and Cape Town, with Johannesburg scheduled for 8th October.
6. Contribution to South African Whistleblowing Ecosystem
This workshop will strengthen organisational resilience against misconduct and corruption by equipping workplace actors with practical skills and future-oriented insights. It will shift the whistleblowing conversation from protection in principle to effective practice in reality, ensuring whistleblowers are heard, supported, and protected while maintaining safeguards against system abuse. In doing so, it will contribute to a culture of transparency that underpins democratic governance, ethical business practice, and public trust in South Africa’s institutions.
This is a closed workshop, by invite only.
Download the Johannesburg Whistleblowing workshop info pack- web
