Johannesburg - Whistle-blower Patricia Morgan-Mashale says her life continues to be in danger after she exposed corruption in the SAPS.
Speaking to SABC anchor Blain Herman Mashele, she said she has had attempts on her life, including on Sunday after she was chased by a black vehicle.
Mashele's troubles began after she sent a dossier on corruption in disciplinary hearings, and how it was used to settle scores. She said she sent this information to former national police commissioner, Khehla Sitole, in January 2021.
This comes under a week after Marumo Eric Phenya was gunned down just three weeks after he reported a conspiracy to commit murder case.
"In the early hours of this morning, I was chased by a black Ford Ranger,“ Morgan-Mashale said.
“It was like I was in an action movie as they clearly wanted to kill me. If it was not for my son-in-law, I could have been dead.”
She said she was unable to open a case as she believes the police could be involved. She said the people who wanted to kill her knew she was going to be on SABC later that day.
"The people knew that I was going to be on the show. They knew that I was going to expose more rot on them.
“It is not the first attempt. It started when I blew the whistle on corruption to the former national police commissioner in 2021,“ she said.
In her online petition, Mashele who has been in hiding since February this year, said she has proof of alleged corruption within the SAPS implicating senior management.
She said she also reported some of the cases to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid), but Ipid has not acted on these cases.
"The Ipid to whom I have reported all of the cases I brought forward as per procedure, has also failed to act. They are yet to report back to me on the progress of these cases.
"This was reported to the parliamentary police portfolio committee that should have called for an investigation by Ipid, but did not.
“The President, the Minister of Police, the Portfolio Committee of Police as well as the National Commissioner of Police are all aware of my situation but they haven't taken any meaningful steps to secure my safety and livelihood," she said.
The government has failed to investigate some of the issues she has raised, she said.
"What is even more appalling is that President Cyril Ramaphosa is not practising what he has been preaching around the protection of whistle-blowers.
“Regardless of the fact that he is well aware of my situation, I am not receiving any support as a certified whistle-blower. Instead, I am being supported by private NGOs, locally and internationally," she said.
Human rights lawyer, advocate Tseliso Thiphanyane, said whistle-blowers are not being protected by the state, adding that more needs to be done to protect them.
"Unfortunately this is the reality in our country today that despite the benefits of whistle-blowing, we still see the act being violated.
“People are being victimised. That is why we say the government has a constitutional responsibility to protect the people of this country. Therefore the victimisation of whistle-blowers is the violation of that right,“ he said.
The Star