By Mpumi Mavi.
Public Interest SA honoured fifteen recipients (fourteen individuals and one organisation) at the Whistleblowers Awards 2026, held at The Venue, Melrose Arch, recognising South Africans whose courage in speaking up has protected communities, businesses and the country’s democracy. The Awards formed the centrepiece of the Whistleblowers Awards & Summit 2026, held under the theme “Honouring Courage, Inspiring Integrity”.
Honouring the people who paid a price for telling the truth
Among the evening’s most closely watched honours, the Individual Whistleblower Excellence Award went to Esethu Hasane of the Department of Transport, for exposing alleged procurement irregularities involving approximately R15 million in public funds, and to Joel Cedras of Stellenbosch University, for his courage in exposing and reporting a critical security vulnerability in the Gauteng Provincial Government’s e-Panic Button platform, despite subsequently facing alleged retaliation from the very government whose attention he sought to draw to the flaw.
Other recipients honoured on the night included:
- Digital Courage Award: Macfarlane Moleli, for fearless digital journalism through Be Frank with Mac, creating a platform for candid conversations, critical inquiry and public accountability.
- Investigative Journalism Award (Broadcast): Pule Leshwiti-Jones (eNCA), for investigative broadcast journalism that pursues truth and scrutinises power; and Peter Murimi (BBC Africa Eye), for his documentary Crime and Punishment in South Africa.
- Investigative Journalism Award (Print & Digital): Yeshiel Panchia, freelance journalist (BBC Eye), for evidence-based investigative reporting that uncovers matters of public interest.
- Fallen Heroes of Integrity Award: Martha Rantsofu (Emfuleni Municipality), Frans Mathipa (Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation) and Mpho Mafole (Ekurhuleni Municipality), honoured posthumously for their courage and commitment to integrity in public service.
- Heroes of Integrity Award: Advocate Drushanta Ramsamy and Mantsha Rapetsu (Investigating Directorate Against Corruption), Warrant Officer Karl Sander (Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation) and Brigadier Dineo Mokwele, for professional courage, integrity and accountability in the fight against corruption and in ethical law enforcement.
- Whistleblower Sherpa Support Award: Brigadier Brian Lamprecht (South African Police Service), for his commitment to guiding and protecting those who courageously expose wrongdoing.
- Whistleblower Champion Award: Tax Justice SA, for its sustained advocacy against illicit trade, tax evasion and economic criminality.
Tebogo Khaas, Founder of Public Interest SA, says these awards reflect the need for a national call for systems that protect those who speak up. “Every person honoured paid a price for telling the truth. These awards say, publicly and on the record, that South Africa sees that courage, and that protecting those who speak up is now a national task, not a private risk.”
For many whistleblowers, speaking up has cost them their jobs, their livelihoods and their safety, and some have paid with their lives. Too often, the people who protect the public interest do so entirely alone, facing retaliation from the very institutions they sought to serve.
Delivering the keynote address at the 2026 Whistleblower Awards, Professor Mandla Makhanya, Commissioners in the Public Service Commission, called on institutions to ensure that disclosures lead to meaningful investigations and consequences, and urged society to stand behind those who speak out. He emphasised the need to build a culture where integrity is celebrated, truth is protected and those who defend the public interest are not left to stand alone.
The Whistleblowers Awards aim to change that by putting names and faces to acts of integrity, and making it harder for those who would silence whistleblowers to do so unseen. The evening also paid tribute to those who did not live to see their disclosures vindicated, including Martha Rantsofu, Frans Mathipa and Mpho Mafole, the posthumous recipients of the Fallen Heroes of Integrity Award.