As killings of whistleblowers and activists go unpunished, South Africa's delayed legislative reforms expose a fatal lack of political will to protect those exposing corruption.

Speak up and lose your life. That is the risk faced by whistleblowers and human rights defenders in South Africa.

Five years have passed since Babita Deokaran was killed outside her home in Johannesburg. While the hitmen who carried out her killing have been convicted and sentenced to between six and 22 years in prison, those who ordered it remain free.

Deokaran's death in August 2021 sparked public debate over the protection of whistleblowers in South Africa, and in its 2022 report, the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture recommended that whistleblower legislation be strengthened.

Yet little has changed. In 2023, the Department of Justice issued a discussion document proposing reforms for South Africa's whistleblower protection regime. Despite submissions from organisations like Amnesty International South Africa hoping for urgent reform, it took three years for the draft Protected Disclosures Bill to be released for public comment in April 2026. From here, the Bill faces parliamentary debate, approval by both houses, and presidential sign-off - a timeline with no clear end in sight.

Deokaran's story is not an anomaly. It is part of a documented pattern of intimidation and lethal violence against those who expose corruption...