Policy and management considerations for whistle blower protection

Abstract

The issue of whistle blower protection will always be a contentious point. The manner in which whistle blowers are protected remains a concern as those that disclose alleged wrongdoing are often ill informed on the manner in which these disclosures should be made. It is therefore essential that policies must contain the necessary procedures as well as all necessary information so that when a disclosure is made, the case can firstly successfully be investigated and secondly offer protection to the one making the disclosure. In this article a comprehensive literature review was done to determine what policies must contain to offer protection and the whistle blowing policy of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature was perused to determine if it contained the necessary elements as determined in the literature review. The article concludes with suggestions for the management of the whistle blowing process.