Previous National Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda questioned the State Protection Agency (SSA) in December 2018 to research the leaking of documents that uncovered lottery corruption.
The NLC’s corporation secretary at the time listed media reports she mentioned have been depending on “stolen” info in an affidavit for your SSA.
The SSA did examine. It found the knowledge was not a matter of point out stability and which the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “enough motive” with the media to show it.
A different board and administration has due to the fact taken over the NLC and To this point have taken steps to finish corruption in the institution.
A Point out Stability Agency (SSA) investigation discovered the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “provided ample motive” for publicity by the media.
The probe into meant “info security breaches and sabotage of NLC functions” was undertaken right after then-NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda wrote to the SSA in December 2018 requesting it to investigate.
Here's
Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by currently suspended NLC corporation secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the ask for, and
the security agency’s “private” results and suggestions.
Nevhutanda asked the SSA to analyze the purpose of NLC team from the alleged leaking of knowledge, and Nene, in her affidavit discovered distinct media and reviews that she claimed involved these leaks.
During the letter outlining its findings, the SSA explained to the NLC that even though safeguarding point out details was “a lawful essential targeted at protecting the sovereignty and integrity in the condition” this only placed on properly labeled information.
Although it did not say so immediately, the SSA results implied the allegedly leaked data did not drop into this category.
Substantially, the SSA created it very clear that the necessity to guard condition information “does not prevent any unique from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminal activity”.
The SSA investigation found the NLC information associated with the alleged breach was “delicate and privileged in mother nature, but not labeled when it comes to the prescripts on the Minimum amount Info Safety Expectations (Miss out on)”.
“The leakage of the related sensitive official NLC information to the media does not pose a danger to nationwide safety,” the SSA stated, introducing which the effect from the breaches was reputational.
The SSA report discovered “no proof of a factual and incriminating mother nature in opposition to any of the suspected NLC staff members that can be identified from the knowledge and facts interrogated”.
What's more, it mentioned that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities inside the NLC and at its beneficiaries does deliver enough motive to get these exposed while in the media”.
Conspiracy promises
In 2020, Nevhutanda advised MPs all through a session of Parliament’s trade, business and Levels of competition portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” during which info “stolen” through the NLC was despatched towards the US, the place he claimed it had been getting sold to fund a smear marketing campaign towards the NLC.
He was repeating comparable promises he had Beforehand created in Parliament, which included advertisement hominem assaults on GroundUp which reporter but was watchful not to call either.
“I came below Within this August household last yr and documented to honourable customers that information about our beneficiaries has actually been stolen and set in one condition in the usa,” he instructed MPs.
“We referred to as within the Point out Protection Company to come back consider the subject for the reason that we are receiving reports that our facts is producing revenue for media platforms and journalists,” he explained. “There have been communicate, needless to say from just one resource, a single media, that spoke Considerably about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda mentioned (referring to GroundUp), but did not explain to MPs the SSA investigation were completed Pretty much a year previously.
Proactive funding was at the heart with the looting on the lottery. It side-stepped the conventional grant system. The NLC could by itself identify a project to fund and appoint a non-earnings organisation to supervise it.
Soon after Nevhutanda first advised Parliament in 2018 that he experienced asked the SSA to research the intended breach, the South African Nationwide Editors Forum issued an announcement declaring that his remarks reflected “an incredibly unsafe Frame of mind wherever the media is staying blamed to the NLC’s inherent complications”.
“In lieu of investigating why hundreds of thousands can't be accounted for, the NLC has as an alternative made an effort to Solid doubt on the integrity on the journalists involved and it has asked the SSA to analyze their resources.”
Proactive assignments built solution
Safety flaws identified in the NLC grant funding procedure through the SSA’s investigation, look to are already employed being an excuse because of the NLC to remove all proactive-funded initiatives from its central grants method.
“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all Professional-actively funding jobs was heightened to ‘magic formula’ and initiatives were removed from the grant funding program and preserved manually underneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Information Business office, Government Manager Legal so as to safeguard [the] information and facts,” Nene reported in her affidavit.
“There was a lot of interior dialogue, with a great deal of backwards and forwards, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a supply, who was in the senior place at the NLC at enough time, informed GroundUp. “Eventually, the decision was taken to eliminate every one of the proactive projects with the method and Restrict usage of a handful of folks”.
Some in that handful of folks had been implicated in corruption.
Maselwa, who resigned through the NLC quite a few many years ago, has become implicated in corruption involving lottery cash. He been given R4.three-million from lottery cash allotted to develop a library and museum advanced in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural New music and Arts Expo) which he made use of to make a household in an upmarket gated advancement in Pretoria. The home is among many paid for with lottery resources that were frozen once the Asset Forfeiture Unit attained a preservation purchase in December 2022.
The politically-related Nevhutanda, who was appointed as being the NLC board chairperson by previous President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was near to superior-ups while in the ANC Management, former NLC former Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-chief running officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated within the corruption which overcome the NLC on their own check out.
Also implicated are previous board members William Huma, who resigned right after he was confronted with evidence of how he had profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, who may have considering that died.
When a new administration, including the full board and executive, took in excess of within the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they identified a “chaotic mess” from the documentation relating to proactive funding, Significantly of which was paper-dependent. Critical files were being lacking. Data files held for safekeeping by doc storage corporation Metrofile had been signed out and never ever returned.
The NLC was in the position to Get well copies of some ผล หวย files from its Mimecast electronic mail archiving method along with the laptops in their assistants and guidance team.
Information experiences
In his one December 2018 letter, resolved to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has observed with grave worry attainable data safety breaches as well as the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of private information and facts received because of performing Formal functions from the Commission by NLC workforce. The functions are intended to undermine the integrity on the Fee even though disrupting the effective features [of your NLC] and leading to insurmountable reputational harm on the Commission given that the custodian of personal information entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”
His ask for to the SSA to investigate was supported in an affidavit by suspended NLC company secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.
Nene is presently experiencing a disciplinary inquiry just after she was unsuccessful in authorized motion to put aside conclusions of irregular expenditure on her look at.
The objective of her affidavit, Nene claimed, was “to record the activities which transpired associated with info safety breaches with the Nationwide Lotteries Fee”.
She detailed various news studies which she claimed were the effects of such “breaches” (see at the end of this article).
Nene stated that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that one of its staff, Sello Qhino, had “provided her categorised NLC Information and facts and persistently inspired her to offer the information to GroundUp”.
Qhino, who blew the whistle on the series of dodgy lottery-funded jobs in Kuruman just after makes an attempt to raise The difficulty internally ended up dismissed, was subsequently fired.
Referring to an eighteen November 2018 short article from the Each day Dispatch with regard to the misappropriation of Lottery money, Nene reported that the NLC recognized after which you can suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an employee inside the NLC’s East London Business, who was the companion plus the mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s three children.
Rungqu and Makatse think Rungqu was punished mainly because Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and charged internally, Together with the NLC expending R470,000 on legal professionals to stand for it, but was uncovered not responsible and allowed to return to work.
“The typical Consider these articles is that [they include] labeled information associated with proactive funding tasks,” Nene said in her affidavit.
When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out on the family members property to go ahead and take warmth off her and his youngsters. Facing homelessness, he moved into an Place of work in an empty manufacturing facility belonging to a colleague.
Both of those Makatse and Qhino are taking part in an NLC reparation approach intended to recognise the harm many people endured on the hands of the NLC. Apologies and, occasionally, money compensation are envisioned.
“Some people today were being genuinely affected quite negatively by this … This is basically agonizing,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz told the Day-to-day Maverick past yr.
“I satisfied two or three these people. It had been just so heart-wrenching that their entire lives have already been turned the wrong way up,” explained Scholtz.
Amid People she fulfilled have been Qhino and Makatse.
Risk-free platform desired for whistleblowers
The SSA observed the absence at enough time of a proper channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to show for the media.
“Failure to possess a committed anti-corruption channel will result in workforce presenting these situations beyond the NLC,” the SSA mentioned in its conclusions.
“Offered the magnitude of corruption in condition institutions, it stays crucial that it ensures that the NLC complies with all safety prescripts and that its emphasis is on guaranteeing that unlawful and irregular carry out is sufficiently mitigated from and by guaranteeing an ample channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward carry out with no currently being intimidated.”
It advisable the NLC establish a “safe channel” for workers to supply info on any “untoward action” that will not stop or discourage workforce from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers coverage, based on the Secured Disclosures Act 25 of 2000, is often a necessity.”
Media reports Nene shown
A ten December 2017 report within the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Wellbeing and Health and fitness Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has worked closely with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and operator of your Limpopo Mirror, to reveal NLC corruption. “The report had elements of knowledge not offered in the public area, thereby boosting problem on interior Facts security breaches. The allegations in the media ended up independently investigated,” Nene mentioned. “Nevertheless, personnel liable for divulging categorised details have nonetheless for being discovered”;
A 28 January 2018 article printed with the Dally Dispatch “citing various allegations within the Limpopo Mirror article printed on 10 December 2017 as well as a new allegation referring to a former staff by the identify of Mzukisi Makatse. He was billed and summarily dismissed for your threat caused to your organisation.”
A 16 November 2018 article from the Lowvelder with regard to the misappropriation of NLC money involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has claimed how, in spite of obtaining R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab hasn't been finished. “The Lowvelder short article contained classified data in terms of NLC policy, elevating even more fears of interior information security breaches,” Nene stated in her affidavit. “The prima facie evidence with regard to these allegations did not warrant an unbiased Investigation, having said that [it] highlighted the heightened information stability challenges throughout the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a couple of dodgy R27.5-million grant to Denzhe Primary Treatment, a hijacked NPO. Nene explained GroundUp had verified in its story that it had been depending on leaked NLC files. This was despite the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Advertising of Entry to Information) request for aspects with regard to the undertaking, she reported