By Shabodien Roomanay
Whistle-blowers are a rare breed. Often the accusation of being disloyal to the employer keeps potential champions from exposing wrongdoing, It impedes them from telling the truth, being ethical and civil minded.
The consequences of being excluded, threatened with legal action, dragged through the courts, demoted, victimised and prevented from finding alternate employment is a huge challenge most cannot deal with.
No less than 90% of whistle-blowers report all of these.
A “witness protection programme” causes further isolation and marginalisation. In most cases, whistle-blowers report not having the resources to fight the “charges” levelled against them.
This creates a moral and ethical dilemma. Vacillating between various angles on the moral compass can be especially daunting, given the history of how the truthful and concerned have been treated.
Most whistle-blowers end up being treated like lepers.
When Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks in 2006, let rip with information that exposed the dark dealings of the security apparatus and governments, he was hounded, forced into self-imprisonment, imprisoned, tried in his absence, had the charges withdrawn, witnesses retracting, governments hopping and skipping from one view to another and finally reaching a point where he is about to die a young death, refusing to extradite him for a “trial” in the US, the supposed bastion of justice and democracy. And then to add to the pain, deny him bail.
Edward Snowden, the whistle-blower at the National Security Agency in the US, faces a similar challenge.
At the core, is the level to which governments, or more accurately, the political elite, have seized the rights and commandeer the lives of the world citizenry.
In the name of security, every new mechanism is being introduced to further erode the rights of citizens to further the capture of the political and judicial organs that would otherwise have had oversight over serious transgressions of political power.
Political appointments to the judiciary and funding lobbyists to promote one agenda over another has become a fine art for those who throw millions at this opportunity.
Winning the minds of the power elite creates a pool of unimaginable wealth for the advocates and further accelerates the yawning gap between the haves and the have-nots.
Forbes reports 1% of US households holds 15 times more wealth than the bottom 50% combined last year.
It is a serious indictment on governments who spy on their citizens under the guise of state security. The “state” and those few who control it become the beneficiaries of information that is “legally” gathered for illegal use. And let’s face it. World citizens have become acquiescent and obedient to the point of shedding all responsibility and allowing state organs to manipulate, exploit, misuse, misappropriate and bully them.
The critical point is this: it is the truth that suffers when honesty is classified as criminal conduct. When Assange released “wikileaks”, he was treated as a leper by state organs all over, with a few whimpers in between, who were only too keen to protect their economic and financial relationships with the US. “You dare not cross our line. Or we will cease all donations and support,” would have been the dreaded call they would be keen to avoid.
The fear of “telling” on wrongdoing drives those with a conscience into silence. The loss of jobs, business, status in society, pressure on family and friends, the threat of becoming unemployable weighs heavily in making the decision to blow the whistle. So instead of being hailed as a hero, as in the case of Assange and Snowden, “fear pressure” determines the trajectory of the potential informer.
In the South African context, former Eskom group secretary Suzanne Daniels’s fears for her life and that of her family. Her daughter has left the country. She is threatened and worries she might not find employment anymore.
Not only do the death threats constitute a serious blight on the moral compass of a nation, it threatens the very fabric of a people who normalise wrongdoing, dishonesty and corruption.
Journalists, whose job it is to dig for information and expose wrongdoing but simultaneously highlight the good of those who choose not to buckle to fear pressure, are our only fortification against rank transgressions.
The world needs leaders who serve a new agenda – of being servants and not of being served. It is when a political elite arises from among the commoners that corruption finds the most fertile soil.
* Shabodien Roomany is a former headmaster of Islamia College, the chairperson of the Muslim Views Board and the founder of the Salt River Heritage Society.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
Cape Argus
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