Abstract
South Africa is one of the countries ranked with high levels corruption. Whistleblowers play a crucial role in exposing corruption, misconduct, and fraud in both private and public sectors. However, the problem is they are afraid to come forward because they often face severe retaliation, threats of their livelihoods, occupational detriment, bad labeling and the safety of their families. The protected Disclosures Act provides a solid foundation. However, the effectiveness and implementation challenges persist. The Act seems to be one sided when it comes to offering protection, because even whistleblowers who are non-employees do the same job in exposing corruption, fraud, misconduct the same way employees do. But protection is only available to those who are classified as employees.
It is for this reason that this dissertation will compare and contrast whistleblower protection laws in South Africa and United States. By examining the effectiveness of existing frameworks in safeguarding whistleblowers. This dissertation will analyze the Protected Disclosures Act in South Africa, The Protected Disclosure Amendment Act, the Companies Act, the Constitution of republic of South Africa, the Labor Relations Act, the Prevention and Combating Corrupt Activities Act. And in United States, I will look at the Whistleblower Protection Act in United States, Sarbanes Oxley Act, Dodd Frank Act, False Claims Act, and Inspector General Act. Supplemented by case studies of notable whistleblowing incidents in both countries. And recommend practical suggestions to strengthen whistleblower protection, I believe that the reason why whistleblowers cannot come forward they feel that they are not afforded adequate legal protection. And the following comparative analysis seeks to amplify that sentiment.