Exposing fraud and corruption through safe whistleblowing methods
Year: 2021
Category: Internal Content & Campaign Development
The Challenge
As far as State Owned Companies are concerned, Transnet has survived the worst reputational and operational damage since the dawn of the democratic dispensation in South Africa. ‘State Capture’, as it is widely known in South Africa, clutched its talons in the economic heartbeat of the country through a surge of crimes that involved fraud and corruption. Their goal was to see things such as bribery during procurement, kickbacks, unauthorised gifts, and theft of resources being reported. They developed a Whistleblowing policy to give everyone - employees, contractors, suppliers, and members of the public a safe and confidential channel to report misconduct when there are reasonable grounds to do so.
Our Solution
Given the serious nature of what Transnet and the South African government wanted to achieve, we saw it best to have an individual of great stature to relay the message and give it gravitas across the entire Transnet group of companies. For this reason, we proposed that the Group Chief Executive, Advocate Michelle Phillips, get in front of the camera and educate the fifty thousand plus employees on what the Whistleblowing policy and methods seek to achieve.
Uprooting crime and securing the future of South Africa’s economy
Transnet reported that due to their Whistleblowing channels, law enforcement agencies such as the South African Police Service (SAPS), Hawks and the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) were able to make good inroads on solving these crimes. Multiple arrests were made and implicated Transnet employees such as Executive Managers were suspended, pending investigations.
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Exposing fraud and corruption through safe whistleblowing methods
As far as State Owned Companies are concerned, Transnet has survived the worst reputational and operational damage since the dawn of the democratic dispensation in South Africa.