ActionSA has declared corruption Public Enemy Number One. To confront and defeat corruption, ActionSA is introducing an Anti-Corruption Reform Package of Bills. These reforms are designed to protect those who expose wrongdoing, end impunity, and ensure that corruption is met with real and unavoidable consequences.
At the heart of this package is a simple principle: honest public servants and citizens must be protected and empowered, while corrupt networks and their enablers must be decisively dismantled.
The Fallen Whistleblowers Bill honours the brave South Africans who paid the ultimate price for telling the truth. It is named in memory of whistleblowers such as Babita Deokaran, and others who were murdered for exposing corruption while the state failed to protect them and Parliament failed to act.
The Zero Tolerance Anti-Corruption Bill will end the culture of consequence-free looting by introducing minimum sentences for corruption and lowering reporting thresholds.
The Blacklisting Corrupt Suppliers Bill will prevent corrupt individuals and companies from recycling themselves through the state by streamlining and strengthening blacklisting rules and enforcement.
Creating a Scorpions 2.0 is essential to ensuring corruption is successfully prosecuted. This must be accompanied by reforms that strengthen the independence of the National Prosecuting Authority of South Africa, enabling it to act without fear, favour, or political interference.
South Africa’s experience of State Capture, and the findings of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, made it clear that whistleblowers are indispensable in exposing corruption. Yet key recommendations to incentivise and protect them remain unimplemented.
ActionSA’s Fallen Whistleblowers Bill proposes amendments to the Public Procurement Act 28 of 2024 and focuses on the sector most vulnerable to corruption: public procurement, which accounts for more than R800 billion in annual expenditure across all spheres of government.
International experience proves that whistleblower incentives work. In the United States, the False Claims Act enabled the recovery of $2.9 billion (approximately R52.2 billion) in 2024 alone. Similar models operate successfully in the United Kingdom and across Europe. South Africa is falling behind internationally in this regard.
In South Africa, whistleblowers routinely face threats to their safety, livelihoods, and dignity. In tragic cases, including the assassinations of Babita Deokaran and Marius van der Merwe, the cost of exposing corruption has been fatal.
Courage should not be a death sentence.
The Fallen Whistleblowers Bill introduces four key reforms:
1. Secure and Anonymous Disclosure Mechanisms
The Bill creates a secure and anonymous mechanism for reporting corruption within public procurement processes.
2. Stronger Criminal Penalties
Penalties for intimidation, retaliation, or interference with whistleblowers will be doubled to up to 20 years’ imprisonment.
3. Financial Incentives for Whistleblowers
Whistleblowers whose disclosures lead to the recovery of stolen public funds will be eligible for financial rewards.
4. Private Prosecution Safeguards
Where the National Prosecuting Authority of South Africa fails to act, the Bill enables private prosecutions to ensure corruption does not go unpunished.
It is unjust and unsustainable to expect whistleblowers to carry this burden alone. The Fallen Whistleblowers Bill ensures that those who risk everything to protect the public interest are recognised, supported, and empowered.
Public Participation: Closed
South Africa is far too soft on corruption. Every year, an estimated R27 billion is lost to corrupt activities, while very few perpetrators face meaningful consequences. This reflects a sentencing regime that allows acts of corruption to be punished inadequately.
The Zero Tolerance Corruption Bill seeks to change this by introducing minimum mandatory sentences for corruption offences. Corruption must no longer be a crime that pays.
The Bill will also lower reporting thresholds for corruption-related offences, ensuring greater accountability and earlier detection of wrongdoing.
These reforms will be introduced through amendments to the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act 12 of 2004.
1. Introduces Minimum Sentences for Corruption
Mandatory minimum prison sentences linked to the court in which the matter is tried:
2. Strengthens Penalties for Non-Disclosure of Blacklisting
Individuals who fail to disclose that they have been blacklisted from public procurement will face:
3. Lowers the Mandatory Reporting Threshold
The Bill lowers the mandatory reporting threshold for fraud and forgery by accounting officers from R100 000 to R30 000.
This change will ensure that more corruption-related crimes are reported earlier and investigated more effectively.
Public Participation: Members of the public are encouraged to support the Bill by sending written submissions before 12 April 2026.
Email your support to:
speaker@parliament.gov.za
and copy: parliament@actionsa.org.za
