10/09/2026
The cost of corporate silence: why ethical governance depends on people speaking up
By Nadia Maritz, Head: Corporate Affairs, and Shaun Matzner, Head: Compliance, CFAO South Africa
For years, silence in business was often mistaken for professionalism.
People who avoided difficult conversations were seen as loyal, and leaders who heard no objections assumed alignment. Organisations relied on policies, hotlines and compliance manuals, believing that was enough.
But modern governance has exposed a hard truth:
Silence is not neutral. It's a risk.
Most corporate failures do not begin as public scandals. They begin much earlier, with concerns that were never raised, warning signs that were overlooked, or colleagues who concluded that speaking up wasn't worth the risk.
This raises an important leadership question: Do people trust the organisation enough to speak up?
A whistleblowing framework creates a mechanism, but a speak-up culture creates the conditions for it to work. Shaun Matzner, Head: Compliance at CFAO SA, explains: "The biggest misconception is believing that a whistleblowing system, alone, creates a speak-up culture. The system creates the opportunity, but trust determines whether people use it."
Trust isn't built through policies but through leadership behaviour. People watch how leaders respond to bad news, whether concerns are taken seriously, and if confidentiality is respected.
Nadia Maritz, Head: Corporate Affairs at CFAO SA, adds: "When concerns are met with curiosity, fairness and consistency, trust grows. If met with defensiveness or dismissiveness, people quickly learn that speaking up carries risk."
One of the biggest mistakes organisations make is assuming silence equals agreement. In reality, silence often signals fear, uncertainty, disengagement, or a belief that nothing will change. Organisations lose access to critical information from those close to customers, operations, and risk, causing small issues to escalate. Ethical concerns remain hidden until they become crises.
At CFAO South Africa, reporting activity signals trust in the system, enabling early concern-raising before issues escalate. The same applies to compliance; anti-corruption controls, due diligence processes, F**A requirements and governance frameworks only work when people understand why they matter. Compliance must be part of the culture, not just a tick-box exercise.
Ultimately, the true test of governance isn’t policies, reporting channels or compliance frameworks but whether colleagues trust those systems enough to use them. Future-leading organisations will be those where people have the confidence to speak up, leaders have the discipline to listen, and the business has the courage to act.
Silence may feel comfortable short term, but it is a dangerous governance strategy.
