DA Ekurhuleni mayoral candidate Khathutshelo Rasilingwane has vowed to establish an independent whistleblower protection unit within her first 100 days in office, as she accused the municipality of failing to protect officials who expose corruption and wrongdoing.
Rasilingwane unveiled the proposed intervention on Thursday, placing the protection of whistleblowers at the centre of her campaign to “crush corruption” in Ekurhuleni ahead of the 4 November local government elections.
Her announcement comes against the backdrop of several high-profile cases involving officials and whistleblowers who were killed after raising concerns about alleged wrongdoing.
Rasilingwane specifically referred to the deaths of Ekurhuleni officials Mpho Mafole and Simnikiwe Mapini as well as Tembisa Hospital whistleblower Babita Deokaran, while arguing that the killings had created a climate of fear among officials who might otherwise expose corruption.
“These were not just statistics,” Rasilingwane said.
“These are fathers of families. These are husbands to another woman’s child. These are people that are providing for their families, but those greedy ones have taken their lives.”
She said the alleged killings sent a chilling message to officials who might consider speaking out.
“The message that the killers wanted to send, we all know it was keep quiet Mafole or we take your life. It was keep quiet Babita or you pay the price. It was keep quiet Simnikiwe or you pay the price,” she said.
“Now we gather here united behind one voice and we are saying we are not gonna keep quiet.”
Rasilingwane said her proposed whistleblower protection unit would be designed to give municipal employees and members of the public a safe channel to report wrongdoing without fear of retaliation.
“Within my 1st 100 days in office, we need to prioritise, particularly in a city such as ours, to establish a dedicated whistleblower protection unit in the city of Ekurhuleni,” she said.
She said the unit would be professionally staffed and operate independently from the municipal structures it could potentially be required to investigate.
“This whistleblower protection unit will be professionally staffed. It will operate independently,” Rasilingwane said.
“We will protect those who expose the wrongdoing.”
She said the unit should not report through officials who could themselves become the subject of investigations.
“It will not report through the very official that one day it might have to investigate,” she said.
Instead, she proposed that the unit be staffed by officials she described as honest and trusted.
“We will give honest official a safe way to speak without any fear or favour,” she said.
Rasilingwane said the unit would not only receive complaints but would be expected to investigate allegations within legislated timeframes and ensure cases supported by evidence were handed over to law enforcement.
“This unit will serve to investigate allegation properly within time that is guided within the legislation in the city of Ekurhuleni,” she said.
“We will ensure that where there is evidence of criminal conduct, we build a strong case and hand them to law enforcement.”
She further promised that cases handed to law enforcement would be followed up rather than allowed to disappear within the system.
“Then we will ensure that we follow through on those cases that our whistleblower unit would have acted on that has strong evidence,” Rasilingwane said.
“We will ensure that we submit them to law enforcement and give them time frame of which they need to report back to us.”
Rasilingwane said a DA administration would also ensure that investigations and reports could not simply disappear.
“Then we will ensure that under a DA government no report will simply just disappear like many reports have been disappearing,” she said.
The proposed unit forms part of Rasilingwane’s broader plan to tackle what she described as entrenched corruption, political interference and weak accountability within the municipality.
She pointed to allegations surrounding the R1.8 billion chemical toilet tender, an alleged R2 billion billing scandal, irregular expenditure and questionable procurement, as well as allegations of the criminal syndicate operating within the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD).
She stressed that her criticism was not directed at every municipal employee, arguing that many officials remained committed to public service but were being undermined by political interference.
“I’m a believer that the city of Ekurhuleni, from the officials that work here, there are many of those that are ethical,” she said.
“There are many of those that chose public service because they want to serve, but they are compromised by those that send the price.”
Rasilingwane also promised that a DA administration would not shield its own officials if they were implicated in wrongdoing.
“No official or corrupt official from the city of Ekurhuleni will be protected,” she said.
“Should you be found to be on the wrong side of the law, I will be the first one to come for you.”
She went further, saying political affiliation would not protect anyone facing credible allegations.
“Whether you have a DA card-carrying member, whether you’ve been loyal to the DA for the longest of time, if you are found to be on the wrong side of the law, if there is evidence after allegation or investigation that put you on the wrong side of the law, I’ll sit behind you in court to say you must be held accountable.”
Rasilingwane said her proposed corruption crackdown was ultimately about improving service delivery and restoring public confidence in the municipality.
“Corruption is not a victimless crime that happens behind closed doors,” she said.
“Corruption steals services from you.”
She linked money allegedly lost through corruption to the everyday failures experienced by residents, including potholes, broken street lights, leaking water infrastructure and unreliable services.
“Every rand that is stolen talks to the pothole that I spoke about,” she said.
“It talks to the street light anga sebenzi in Rege Park. It talks to the leaking pipe that wastes our water. It talks to the taps that are not repaired in Tembisa.”
Rasilingwane said the municipality’s economic potential made its governance failures particularly unacceptable.
She pointed to Ekurhuleni’s position around OR Tambo International Airport and argued that the municipality should be attracting investment and creating employment rather than struggling with high unemployment.
“If we crush corruption in Ekurhuleni, we can then finally attract investment in our city and get more people in jobs,” she said.
She also linked corruption to community safety, arguing that the professionalisation of the EMPD should form part of the broader intervention.
“We must crush corruption to ensure that we build safer communities where people are not afraid to work in their communities,” she said.
Rasilingwane said the EMPD should not employ or retain officials facing criminal cases, arguing that the law enforcement body entrusted with protecting residents must meet higher standards of integrity.
“There is no way in hell you can tell me we can have a department … who have criminal cases,” she said.
“Well, they can be in any other department, not the EMPD department.”
Her intervention comes as the DA seeks to unseat the ANC from governing Ekurhuleni in the November elections.
Rasilingwane said the municipality’s corruption problems could no longer be treated as isolated incidents or administrative failures.
“Corruption is destroying our city,” she said.
She called on residents to reject what she described as a culture in which officials and politicians were protected despite allegations of wrongdoing.
“Today outside the very council where decisions are taking place, we are sending a strong message to those who steal from our people,” she said.
Rasilingwane, however said the proposed whistleblower unit is intended to go beyond investigating corruption after it has occurred by creating a system in which municipal employees and residents can safely expose wrongdoing before it becomes entrenched.
Her pledge is therefore to make whistleblower protection one of the first interventions of a DA-led Ekurhuleni administration, should the party win control of the municipality on 4 November.
