News24 reports that four out of 10 whistleblowers have experienced retaliation in the workplace after reporting misconduct, according to a new organisation established to protect those who speak up.

Such victimisation is just the start of the discrimination the average whistleblower will face and many find themselves unemployed and facing legal battles, according to the organisation. The Whistleblower House was launched during a webinar on Tuesday as a civil society intervention to protect those who speak out against misconduct and give them access to all the services they might need. The organisation is chaired by former deputy commissioner of SARS Ivan Pillay, with ethics expert Liezl Groenewald, High Court attorney Martha Ngoye, former SAA treasurer and whistleblower Cynthia Stimpel and former Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) chief operating officer Ben Theron as directors. Theron pointed out that whistleblowers were often caught off guard and overwhelmed by what they had to face. Whistleblowers had little support and protection and were often left to fend for themselves in hostile environments, noted Pillay. This is evident from research carried out by Groenewald, which has shown that while just over 30% of surveyed people said they had personally observed misconduct in corporate entities, only half had reported the misconduct. The biggest reason cited for not reporting misconduct was fear of victimisation.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Nicole McCain at News24

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