Former Trillian CEO and State capture whistleblower Bianca Goodson has started a fundraising campaign to help whistleblowers who find themselves jobless and in dire straits for their bravery in speaking out against State capture.

The 41-year-old decided to blow the whistle on State capture in 2016.

The consequences of exposing dodgy dealings between the Gupta-linked Trillian Management Consulting and Eskom as well as Transnet led to Goodson losing her job and suffering from depression.

Finding a job has been a real struggle for her, despite holding a BSC Honours Degree in physics, calculus and computational physics.

"I don't know what else to do to get work. I started a company, applied for jobs, created websites, looking to earn cash from public speaking. So, now I find that I am losing two things that I held onto for a very long time - my skills and my hope," Goodson said on her website.

The fundraising campaign, which was started only last week, is fast gathering pace, raising more than R80 000.

The aim is to collect R1-million.

Asked how the money would assist whistleblowers, she said: "Whistleblowers find that they need financial assistance for day-to-day living after losing their jobs. For me personally, my bills for therapy are my single biggest expense."

Goodson added she was barely keeping her head above water, so much so that the only way she could pay her bills was to sell her house and move back in with her parents.

She said the initiative was aimed at helping the brave individuals with the financial loss they faced and hoped to cover some costs associated with therapy and day-to-day living.

"I intend to help any State capture whistleblower who needs assistance. This is not limited to Athol Williams, Cynthia Stimpel, Mosilo Mothepu, myself and others."

The University of KwaZulu-Natal graduate added: "Should this campaign be successful, I will use any extra funds to support other whistleblowers who find themselves in a similar situation."

To donate to Goodson's charity, you can go to backabuddy.co.za.

Trillian is linked to the Gupta family through its association with associate Salim Essa and Trillian director Eric Wood.

It emerged that parastatal Eskom allegedly made irregular payments of R600-million to Trillian.

It is also alleged that consulting firm Mckinsey subcontracted Trillian to do non-existing work for Eskom.

It emerged that the two companies were unduly paid around R1.7-billion, despite their contracts being invalid.

News24 reported Mckinsey had since paid back R1-billion.

The government needs to provide financial support to whistleblowers because they lose jobs and livelihoods as a result of speaking out against corruption.

That was the message from State capture whistleblowers Mosilo Mothepu and Themba Maseko who authored new books. Maseko is a former CEO of Government Communications and Information Systems.

Mothepu is a former CEO of Gupta-linked Trillian Financial Advisory. The two blew a whistle on grand scale State capture corruption at their organisations and paid the price for it.

They both lost jobs and their livelihoods. The pair was in conversation with News24 editor Adriaan Basson on the Frontline under the theme blowing the whistle on corruption on Tuesday night.

Maseko revealed that he has not earned a salary since 2011 and is struggling to get loans from banks as he doesn't have proof of income.

When Mothepu lost her R2.3-million a year job at Trillian after exposing corruption, she struggled to make ends meet for two years and was on the verge of selling her home when she was offered a lifeline.

During that era, she was R1.3-million in debt.

She told Basson that she suffered mental breakdown and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and racked up R450 000 mental health bill which sunk her further deep in debt.

Maseko said: "When you blow a whistle, you lose a job and kids are kicked out of school, you lose your house and your car. There needs to be a financial support to cover you in that sense. I prefer financial support as oppose to financial reward so that people blow the whistle not for the purpose of making money out of it but do it because it is the right thing to do. If we suffer consequences, there must be financial support to those who suffered those consequences."

Mothepu said she struggled to secure employment because potential employers deemed her a political risk with compromised integrity.

About her condition, Mothepu said: "It's terrible. I don't want to scare anyone; I am still dealing with it."

Mothepu said at the Zondo commission in December 2020, she asked Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo to propose for an establishment of a Chapter 9 institution that will support whistleblowers physically and financially.

Mothepu said if it wasn't for her, Eskom would have never recovered money from Trillian.

"Whistleblowers have risked their lives, livelihoods and mental health in the fight against corruption. Almost all whistleblowers that I have met have lost their source of income either by leaving the organisation or by being pushed out.

"This results in them facing a new trauma - financial loss. I currently am at the point at which I have to consider selling my home in order to support myself and my daughter," Goodson told News24.