When Cynthia Stimpel was appointed Group Treasurer of South African Airways, she thought she had found her dream job, and that she would be at SAA for years. While on a walking pilgrimage in France in 2016, she received word from a colleague that a dirty deal between SAA and BNP Capital had been signed off – a deal against which Cynthia had given strict orders.

Despite knowing that she might jeopardise her job and her family’s finances, she did not hesitate to act. Cynthia knew she might lose her job as group treasurer, yet she decided to blow the whistle anyway. She simply could not keep quiet about an irregular deal of R256 million at South African Airways on Dudu Myeni’s watch. Although she succeeded in saving SAA millions, she paid a high price for speaking the truth. 

Cynthia is the Co-Founder of Citizens of Conscience Foundation, to support whistleblowers. She’s had a long career in Banking and her highest qualification is an MBA. In 2019 she started a Support Group for Whistle Blowers in South Africa and is campaigning for the Rights and Plights for Whistle Blowers. She is also a Motivational Public Speaker, speaking on her story as a Whistle Blower, and “making a difference where you are”. She is also a Yoga Instructor for Adults and Children. She is a Board Member on three Boards. She volunteers at Accountability Now, Radio Veritas, and does community work.

Title:                          [• Ms.]

Name:                        [• Cynthia Stimpel]

Position AND org.:   [• Former group treasurer of South African Airways (SAA); author of;Hijackers on

Board; and co-founder of Citizens of Conscience Foundation]  

Title:                          [• Mr.]

Name:                        [• Aristeidas Danikas  ]

Position AND org.:   [• Honorary research Fellow for international NGO BP for Free Speech ]

This weekend, the Javett Art Centre at the University of Pretoria (Javett-UP) will be opening the much-anticipated Yakhal’ Inkomo exhibition, the first curatorial iteration from the Bongi Dhlomo collection.

Yakhal’ Inkomo aims to incite, inspire and sustain new engagement with various creative forms that are at the heart of articulating a raw and truthful experience of apartheid.  The Bongi Dhlomo collection features pieces by some of the most important artists working in South Africa between 1960 and 1990.The works will be arranged around the concepts of alienation, nostalgia, mobility and spirituality, taking a thematic rather than a chronological approach. However, notable touch points such as the 1960 Sharpeville massacre and 1976 Soweto uprising will be highlighted to demonstrate the creative and sensory experiences that were produced in response to these traumatic events.

Title:                          [• Ms. ]

Name:                        [• Bongi Dhlomo]

Position AND org.:   [• Artist and curator]

The right to adequate housing is an important basic human right which is recognised in the Constitution and international human rights instruments. Housing provides shelter, a place to eat, sleep, relax and raise a family. The right to adequate housing ensures that people enjoy physical and mental health and live in a safe place in peace and dignity.

But in South Africa, owning or staying in a decent house is more of a privilege than a basic human right. Many families still live below the breadline. The unemployment rate continues to increase. Today, 62 years after the Sharpeville massacre, most black people remain impoverished.

We’re in conversation with Abahlali baseMjondolo, a movement that began in Durban in 2005, with a mission to improve the lives and living conditions of shack dwellers and the poor with a special focus on asserting the human dignity of shack dwellers.  It has been 17 years since this movement was formed and, unfortunately, the movement has grown and spread to other provinces. This is unfortunate because the issues that they raise are not supposed to be so rampant, especially in a democratic society.

Title:                          [• Mr.]

Name:                        [• Thapelo Mohapi ]

Position AND org.:   [• General Secretary of Abahlali baseMjondolo] 

On this year’s Human Rights Day we are marking 62 years since the brutal Sharpeville massacre where the still-alive apartheid regime murdered almost 70 Black African working class people for defying the unjust pass law system. Have we seen significant changes since the democratic dispensation? Are we seeing the much needed  socio-economic gains for the working class majority?. Despite being the bodies who put their lives on the line for a democratic society and who generate all the wealth in our society through ceaseless, low-wage, often unprotected/precarious labour, is the working class in South Africa getting the dignity that it deserves?

Title:                          [• Mr.]

Name:                        [• Motebang Ralake ]

Position AND org.:   [• General Secretary of theSocialist Revolutionary Workers Party ]

Last week, international credit bureau TransUnion, confirmed that it was a victim of a hack by a 'criminal third party'. The company also confirmed that it will not be paying the extortion demand that was received.

Data breaches have been on the rise globally and South Africa has seen unprecedented increases in the number of cyber victims. Over the past two years, companies have been reporting that they have been victims of cyber attacks and data breaches. Some of these breaches included the compromise of personal information of consumers.  The Department of Justice recently announced that it was a victim of a cybercrime, so in essence, no organisation is immune against cyber-attacks.

We’re in conversation with Manie van Schalkwyk, the CEO of the Southern African Fraud Prevention Service, and he believes that this is a further indication that every company that holds personal information is a potential target. He is of the view that the consumer desperately needs an extra layer of protection on their identity against criminals who will turn their lives upside down without a second thought.

Title:                          [• Mr.]

Name:                        [• Manie van Schalkwyk  ]

Position AND org.:   [• CEO of the Southern African Fraud Prevention Service (SAFPS)] 

Julia Chaskalson of SECTION 27 argues that for healthcare, a post-pandemic human rights-focused budget would have allocated funding specifically for backlogs in access to health services from the past two years, as well as tackling the present inequities in access to healthcare that characterise the public health system. She says that this year’s budget does not do enough to enable the government to realise people’s fundamental human right to access healthcare.

Title:                          [• Ms. ]

Name:                        [• Julia  Chaskalson]

Position AND org.:   [• Research and Advocacy Officer at SECTION 27]

GUEST: Adv. Dali Mpofu – Senior Counsel

GUEST: Nelvis Qekema – President of Azanian People’s Organization

GUEST: Moky Makura - Executive Director of Africa No Filter

GUEST: Adv. Dali Mpofu – Senior Counsel

Over 2000 military veterans plan to bring a class-action suit against President Cyril Ramaphosa over unpaid benefits. The former MK, APLA, and AZANLA members are demanding R4 million each. They claim the President disregarded their demands for reparations and benefits which include pensions, housing, and medical benefits among others.

Last month, they marched to the Union Buildings but there were no recipients to accept their memorandum. They also wrote to the President indicating their intentions to go the legal route if he fails to respond before April.

But only 2000 members are part of this, what about the other half? Are these members not in unison on this matter?

Title:                          [• Mr.]

Name:                        [• Andries Nkome ]

Position AND org.:   [• Legal Representative and attorney at Phosa Loot attorneys ] 

We’re talking about the National State of Disaster and what the possible outcomes for the Command Council meeting could be. If there is an extension - what would it entail?  If it is done away with, will it mean the end of social distancing and the death of a vaccination drive that has been battling to get a favourable response?

Title:                          [• Dr. Mr. ]

Name:                        [• Kgosi Letlape]