Civil Engineering January-February 2022 | Vol 30 No 1

Civil Engineering January/February 2022 19 Relations Act (66 of 1995) and the Companies Act (71 of 2008) . The Competition Act (89 of 1988) , establishing the Competition Commission, also supports whistle- blowing regarding cartels involved in price-fixing and collusive tendering. The Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (12 of 2004) places an obligation on particular individuals holding a position of au- thority (for example directors or board members) to report unethical and/or corrupt transactions to the police in instances where the transaction value is in excess of R100 000. Failure to report is a criminal offence. As engineering practitioners, we also need to remember that we are bound by the Engineering Profession Act (46 of 2000) , which establishes ECSA and gives authority to publish the ECSA Code of Conduct to guide behaviour in practice. THE ETHICS OF WHISTLEBLOWING A significant step in the investigation and exposure of unethical and corrupt activi- ties in the public and private sectors was taken in January 2022 with the publication of the first part of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into State Capture Report (“The Zondo Report”), a copy of which can be accessed here . The document is worth reading as it reveals the harsh consequences of unethical behaviour in public procurement and provides valuable lessons learned. Third in the list of recommendations of the report is the protection of whistle- blowers (see below). These proposed recommendations, if implemented, will further strengthen the protection of whistleblowers and will lead to greater transparency and exposure of corrupt practices in general. CONCLUSION Organisations need to develop their own mission statements in relation to ethical practice, aligning employee behaviour to their values. This alignment can lead to more resilient and sustainable organisa- tions and more motivated employees. Individual engineering practitioners have ethical duties to the public, the environment, their clients and the profession. When faced with difficult or complex situations, engineering practitioners have several litmus tests available to assist them in dealing with day-to-day ethical decision making. Organisations need to work harder at encouraging an ethical ethos and sup- porting whistleblowers. South African legislation exists to cover whistleblowing and corrupt or unethical practices and is likely to be strengthened following the recent release of the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture Report.  REFERENCES 1 ASCE. 2020. Policy Statement 510. https://www.asce.org/ advocacy/policy-statements/ ps510---combating-corruption . 2 Vee C and Skitmore M. 2003. Professional ethics in the construction industry. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management. 3 Kerzner H. 2009. Project Management – A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling and Controlling. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hoboken, New Jersey. 4 Small M. 2006. Management development: Developing ethical corporate culture in three organisations. Journal of Management Development, 25(6), 588–600. 5 Ardichvili A, Mitchell JA and Jondle D. 2009. Characteristics of Ethical Business Cultures. Journal of Business Ethics (2009) 85: 45–451. 6 Goleman D. 1998. Working with Emotional Intelligence. 7 Denyer D. 2017. Organizational Resilience: A Summary of Academic Evidence, Business Insights and New Thinking. BSI and Cranfield School of Management. 8 Oladinrin and Ho. 2016. Enabling Ethical Code Embeddedness in Construction Organizations: A Review of Process Assessment Approach. Science and Engineering Ethics volume 22, pp1193–1215. 9 Drucker P and Maciariello JA. 2008. Management. New York: Harper & Row. 10 Triple Crown Leadership. 2013. https://triplecrownleadership.com/ ethical-decision-making-simple-tests/ . 11 Bouville M. 2008. Whistle-Blowing and Morality. Journal of Business Ethics. 81:579–585. Springer. 12 Eaton TV and Akers MD. 2007. Whistleblowing and Good Governance. The CPA Journal; Jun 2007; 77, 6. 13 Botha M. 2021. https://theconversation. com/whistleblowers-are-key-to-fighting- corruption-in-south-africa-it-shouldnt- be-at-their-peril-168134 . Recommendation 3: Protection for Whistle Blowers That the Government introduce legislation or amend existing legislation: Q Q To ensure that any person disclosing information to reveal corruption, fraud or undue influence in public procurement activity be accorded the pro- tections stipulated in article 32(2) of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption; Q Q Identifying the Inspectorate of the Agency as the correct channel for the making of such disclosure; Q Q Authorising the Litigation Unit of the Agency to incentivise such disclosures by entering into agreements to reward the giving of such information by way of a percentage of the proceeds recovered on the strength of such information; Q Q Authorising the offer of immunity from criminal or civil proceedings if there has been an honest disclosure of the information which might otherwise render the informant liable to prosecution or litigation. – Commission of Inquiry into State Capture Report, Part 1 For more information, or if any SAICE member wishes to get involved in the Growing Forward: Ethics strategy, please email the SAICE Ethics Committee on ethics@saice.org.za . We welcome en- couraging, different or dissenting views.