Two South African whistle-blowers who leaked explosive emails revealing alleged corruption by powerful figures in the country have reportedly fled the country for safety.
A report stated “they couldn’t trust the authorities to protect them.”
This and other details have been revealed at a judicial inquiry into the corruption that flourished under former President Jacob Zuma.
According to the report, lawyer Brian Currin, in a dramatic testimony, said he had helped the two terrified whistle-blowers, who leaked hundreds of thousands of explosive emails, to flee South Africa.
He added that the whistle-blowers are still too scared to return, unable to trust the police.
The emails were contained on a hard drive that was smuggled out of South Africa last year to be verified by independent experts.
The emails, now widely reported on by the media, appear to show a corrupt conspiracy involving Mr Zuma, his son, ministers, civil servants and the powerful Gupta family. All deny any wrongdoing.
But the inquiry, established to get to the bottom of what is known in South Africa as “state capture”, is rattling the political establishment and is widely expected to lead to arrests and criminal trials. (BBC)
