The week in political activism

How to be a whistleblower

Corruption Watch has released a handy e-book focused on whistleblowers. The book covers what it means to be a whistleblower, who can be a whistleblower, how to do it, and what laws protect the whistleblower. It also gives real-life stories of whistleblowers who chose to not look the other way.

It provides crucial information to anyone who finds themselves in a situation where they are aware of corruption.

To download the ebook, visit the new community platform Corruption Watch Connected. You must be logged in to download the file.

The publication coincides with a national campaign with Right2Know to celebrate whistleblowers. Its first event was held in Soweto on 5 April 2014 with several whistleblowers, including Mike and Cecilia Tshishonga, who shared their experiences.

Victory for informal traders in Jozi

SERI (socio-economic rights institute of South Africa) achieved victory for informal traders in the Constitutional Court on 4 April 2014.

The Constitutional Court handed down a judgment explaining its reasons for ordering the City of Johannesburg to allow informal traders to return to their stalls in the inner city of Johannesburg on 5 December last year.

Acting Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke condemned Operation Clean Sweep as an act of “humiliation and degradation” which rendered thousands of people, and their children, destitute.

The Court expressed concern that the City had described the eviction of several thousand informal traders as “convenient” and instead characterised Operation Clean Sweep as “indiscriminate” and “flawed”, finding that the City had “gone about achieving its objectives in flagrant disregard of the traders’ rights”.

At the time of the judgment, the City had not apologised to the traders or returned the stock that was confiscated unlawfully during Operation Clean Sweep.

Read more about the case and find all the papers Read the Constitutional Court judgment