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Whistle blowing in the organization: wrongdoer or do-gooder?

wrongdoer or do-gooder?

Rachel Barker
University of South Africa
R. Dawood
University of South Africa
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Whistle blowing in the organization: wrongdoer or do-gooder?. (2022). Communicare: Journal for Communication Studies in Africa, 23(2), 119-138. https://doi.org/10.36615/jcsa.v23i2.1771
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  • Submited: October 20, 2022
  • Published: October 24, 2022

Abstract

In his speech at the Anti-corruption Summit Conference in Cape Town in 1998, the deputy
president of South Africa said that the culture of entitlement, so prevalent in our
community, had contributed to the ‘name it, claim it’ syndrome where individuals sought
an elusive moral justification for engaging in criminal activity and that public servants
were obliged to serve the public with integrity (Speech of the …: 1998 [O]).
Although the problem of corruption can be traced back to the 1960s in America and the
1980s in South Africa, the concept of whistle blowing has become an important
phenomenon in modern organizations in the last decade. Subsequently, it is clear that
the concept of whistle blowing should be conceptualized in terms of a theoretical
framework to provide a context for the analysis thereof. The main aim of this article is
therefore to conduct an exploratory study, based on a comprehensive literature review,
to explore, elucidate and critically assess the current status of whistle blowing in South
Africa. The first section of this article explores the development and theoretical perspectives
on the concept, and proposes perspectives on whistle blowing as a communication
phenomenon. The second section deals with the current status of whistle blowing in
South Africa in terms of legislation and ethical considerations. The last section
operationalizes the whistle blowing process and proposes criteria for dealing with whistle
blowing in the organization.

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How to Cite
Whistle blowing in the organization: wrongdoer or do-gooder?. (2022). Communicare: Journal for Communication Studies in Africa, 23(2), 119-138. https://doi.org/10.36615/jcsa.v23i2.1771

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