Lottery bosses turned to State Protection Company to analyze leaks

Lottery bosses turned to State Protection Company to analyze leaks

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Previous National Lotteries Fee (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda asked the Condition Protection Company (SSA) in December 2018 to analyze the leaking of documents that exposed lottery corruption.
The NLC’s corporation secretary at some time outlined media stories she reported were determined by “stolen” facts within an affidavit to the SSA.
The SSA did investigate. It discovered the information wasn't a issue of state stability and the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “ample motive” with the media to reveal it.
A fresh board and administration has due to the fact taken in excess of the NLC and thus far have taken actions to finish corruption in the establishment.
A Point out Security Agency (SSA) investigation observed which the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “offered sufficient motive” for publicity by the media.

The probe into supposed “details safety breaches and sabotage of NLC operations” was undertaken soon after then-NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda wrote to your SSA in December 2018 requesting it to analyze.

Here is

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by at present suspended NLC organization secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the request, and
the safety agency’s “confidential” conclusions and suggestions.
Nevhutanda asked the SSA to analyze the position of NLC workers within the alleged leaking of data, and Nene, in her affidavit recognized unique media and studies that she claimed involved these leaks.

While in the letter outlining its findings, the SSA advised the NLC that though safeguarding point out info was “a authorized vital aimed at defending the sovereignty and integrity on the condition” this only placed on properly labeled facts.

Even though it did not say so immediately, the SSA findings implied that the allegedly leaked information didn't slide into this class.

Substantially, the SSA created it very clear that the necessity to guard condition information “would not avert any person from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminality”.

The SSA investigation identified which the NLC data linked to the alleged breach was “sensitive and privileged in character, but not categorised with regard to the prescripts of the Minimum Details Protection Specifications (Overlook)”.

“The leakage from the pertinent delicate Formal NLC information and facts for the media will not pose a danger to national safety,” the SSA mentioned, adding the impact with the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report discovered “no evidence of a factual and incriminating character from any with the suspected NLC staff members that can be identified from the information and knowledge interrogated”.

It also said that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities in the NLC and at its beneficiaries does give ample motive to own this kind of exposed within the media”.

Conspiracy statements
In 2020, Nevhutanda explained to MPs through a session of Parliament’s trade, business and Competitiveness portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” by which details “stolen” from your NLC was sent to the US, where he claimed it absolutely was staying offered to fund a smear campaign from the NLC.

He was repeating related claims he experienced previously designed in Parliament, which incorporated advert hominem attacks on GroundUp and this reporter but was careful not to name both.

“I arrived right here With this August home very last calendar year and noted to honourable associates that information regarding our beneficiaries continues to be stolen and put in one state in America,” he informed MPs.

“We named about the Condition Safety Agency to return take a look at the make any difference because we've been receiving studies that our details is generating revenue for media platforms and journalists,” he claimed. “There's been talk, not surprisingly from one particular resource, one particular media, that spoke A lot about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda claimed (referring to GroundUp), but didn't inform MPs the SSA investigation were done Nearly a yr previously.

Proactive funding was at the center of your looting of the lottery. It side-stepped the normal grant process. The NLC could itself identify a venture to fund and appoint a non-revenue organisation to oversee it.

Just after Nevhutanda to start with explained to Parliament in 2018 that he had asked the SSA to analyze the intended breach, the South African Countrywide Editors Forum issued a statement expressing that his remarks reflected “a very hazardous attitude wherever the media is becoming blamed for that NLC’s inherent issues”.

“Rather then investigating why hundreds of thousands can't be accounted for, the NLC has in its place tried to cast doubt within the integrity on the journalists included and it has requested the SSA to investigate their sources.”

Proactive projects produced key
Safety flaws identified in the NLC grant funding system during the SSA’s investigation, surface to are utilised as an justification from the NLC to eliminate all proactive-funded tasks from its central grants system.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all pro-actively funding jobs was heightened to ‘key’ and jobs had been faraway from the grant funding system and taken care of manually beneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Information and facts Workplace, Executive Manager Legal in an effort to safeguard [the] information and facts,” Nene reported in her affidavit.

“There was a lot of internal dialogue, with many forwards and backwards, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a source, who was inside a senior position within the NLC at enough time, advised GroundUp. “In the end, the choice was taken to remove many of the proactive assignments from the process and limit use of A few folks”.

Some in that handful of folks had been implicated in corruption.

Maselwa, who resigned from your NLC a number of yrs in the past, is implicated in corruption involving lottery cash. He been given R4.three-million from lottery funds allotted to develop a library and museum advanced in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural New music and Arts Expo) which he utilised to build a dwelling within an upmarket gated advancement in Pretoria. The assets is among numerous paid for with lottery funds that were frozen after the Asset Forfeiture Device attained a preservation order in December 2022.

The politically-connected Nevhutanda, who was appointed since the NLC board chairperson by former President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was near to large-ups while in the ANC Management, former NLC former Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-chief running officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated in the corruption which overcome the NLC on their check out.

Also implicated are previous board members William Huma, who resigned soon after he was confronted with proof of how he had profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, who's got since died.

Whenever a new administration, including the entire board and govt, took around within the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they found out a “chaotic mess” from the documentation regarding proactive funding, Considerably of which was paper-primarily based. Important files had been lacking. Information held for safekeeping by doc storage organization Metrofile were signed out and in no way returned.

The NLC was able to Recuperate copies of some หวย รัฐบาล documents from its Mimecast electronic mail archiving technique as well as the laptops in their assistants and help staff.

News experiences
In his 1 December 2018 letter, dealt with to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has mentioned with grave worry possible data stability breaches and also the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of confidential facts attained as a result of carrying out official functions within the Commission by NLC workers. The routines are intended to undermine the integrity from the Commission while disrupting the effective capabilities [on the NLC] and triggering insurmountable reputational harm to the Fee since the custodian of personal facts entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

His request with the SSA to investigate was supported within an affidavit by suspended NLC business secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.

Nene is now going through a disciplinary inquiry after she was unsuccessful in authorized action to put aside conclusions of irregular expenditure on her view.

The objective of her affidavit, Nene reported, was “to record the activities which transpired regarding information and facts stability breaches at the National Lotteries Fee”.

She mentioned various information stories which she claimed ended up the final results of those “breaches” (see at the end of this short article).

Nene said that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that amongst its staff members, Sello Qhino, had “delivered her labeled NLC Info and persistently inspired her to provide the knowledge to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle with a series of dodgy lottery-funded assignments in Kuruman after makes an attempt to boost The difficulty internally were dismissed, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an 18 November 2018 short article in the Every day Dispatch with regards to the misappropriation of Lottery resources, Nene reported which the NLC determined after which you can suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an personnel from the NLC’s East London Office environment, who was the lover along with the mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s a few young children.

Rungqu and Makatse feel Rungqu was punished simply because Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and billed internally, With all the NLC spending R470,000 on attorneys to represent it, but was located not responsible and allowed to return to work.

“The widespread Think about these posts is the fact [they involve] classified details regarding proactive funding jobs,” Nene said in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out of the family members house to take the warmth off her and his small children. Experiencing homelessness, he moved into an Office environment in an vacant manufacturing facility belonging to a buddy.

The two Makatse and Qhino are taking part in an NLC reparation approach intended to recognise the damage some individuals experienced in the arms from the NLC. Apologies and, occasionally, monetary payment are envisioned.

“Some people ended up really affected quite negatively by this … This is admittedly distressing,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz told the Everyday Maverick previous yr.

“I satisfied several these men and women. It had been just so heart-wrenching that their whole life are turned the wrong way up,” stated Scholtz.

Among Those people she fulfilled had been Qhino and Makatse.

Safe platform needed for whistleblowers
The SSA uncovered the absence at time of an appropriate channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn to your media.

“Failure to possess a devoted anti-corruption channel will end in workers presenting these kinds of cases outside of the NLC,” the SSA mentioned in its results.

“Supplied the magnitude of corruption in point out establishments, it continues to be crucial that it ensures that the NLC complies with all stability prescripts Which its aim is on making sure that unlawful and irregular carry out is adequately mitigated versus and by making sure an enough channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward carry out without having becoming intimidated.”

It recommended the NLC establish a “Harmless channel” for employees to deliver information on any “untoward exercise” that will not reduce or discourage personnel from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers plan, depending on the Shielded Disclosures Act 25 of 2000, can be a need.”

Media reports Nene detailed
A 10 December 2017 report from the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Health and Health and fitness Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has worked closely with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and owner of the Limpopo Mirror, to show NLC corruption. “The article experienced things of knowledge not obtainable in the public area, therefore raising worry on inner Info stability breaches. The allegations while in the media had been independently investigated,” Nene reported. “On the other hand, staff responsible for divulging categorized information and facts have nevertheless to generally be recognized”;
A 28 January 2018 short article posted through the Dally Dispatch “citing a lot of allegations within the Limpopo Mirror post printed on 10 December 2017 as well as a new allegation associated with a former employee from the name of Mzukisi Makatse. He was billed and summarily dismissed for that risk triggered towards the organisation.”
A sixteen November 2018 short article while in the Lowvelder in regards to the misappropriation of NLC funds involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has described how, in spite of obtaining R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has never been concluded. “The Lowvelder post contained categorised info concerning NLC policy, elevating even further concerns of inner facts stability breaches,” Nene said in her affidavit. “The prima facie evidence with regard to these allegations didn't warrant an unbiased Investigation, however [it] highlighted the heightened info security dangers within the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a few dodgy R27.five-million grant to Denzhe Principal Care, a hijacked NPO. Nene said GroundUp experienced confirmed in its Tale that it had been depending on leaked NLC documents. This was Regardless of the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Promotion of Use of Details) ask for for specifics concerning the challenge, she mentioned