Former Nationwide Lotteries Fee (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda asked the Condition Stability Company (SSA) in December 2018 to investigate the leaking of documents that exposed lottery corruption.
The NLC’s corporation secretary at some time outlined media studies she reported were determined by “stolen” facts within an affidavit to the SSA.
The SSA did examine. It identified the information wasn't a subject of state security and which the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “sufficient motive” for the media to show it.
A whole new board and management has considering the fact that taken about the NLC and So far have taken actions to finish corruption on the establishment.
A Point out Security Agency (SSA) investigation uncovered that the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “presented enough motive” for publicity from the media.
The probe into supposed “data stability breaches and sabotage of NLC functions” was carried out just 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 now suspended NLC company secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the ask for, and
the security agency’s “private” results and recommendations.
Nevhutanda questioned the SSA to research the part of NLC employees in the alleged leaking of data, and Nene, in her affidavit determined precise media and reviews that she claimed concerned these leaks.
Within the letter outlining its findings, the SSA told the NLC that though protecting condition information and facts was “a lawful critical targeted at safeguarding the sovereignty and integrity on the state” this only placed on correctly categorised info.
Although it did not say so right, the SSA findings implied that the allegedly leaked facts did not drop into this category.
Significantly, the SSA built it crystal clear that the necessity to safeguard condition details “will not stop any unique from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminal activity”.
The SSA investigation found that the NLC facts linked to the alleged breach was “sensitive and privileged in character, but not labeled when it comes to the prescripts in the Least Facts Stability Benchmarks (Pass up)”.
“The leakage of the related delicate Formal NLC data on the media will not pose a threat to countrywide safety,” the SSA stated, introducing the impact of your breaches was reputational.
The SSA report located “no proof of a factual and incriminating character against any on the suspected NLC workers which could be identified from the knowledge and details interrogated”.
In addition, it said that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities throughout the NLC and at its beneficiaries does provide ample motive to possess these kinds of exposed while in the media”.
Conspiracy statements
In 2020, Nevhutanda advised MPs for the duration of a session of Parliament’s trade, marketplace and competition portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” wherein information and facts “stolen” with the NLC was sent to the US, where by he claimed it had been being marketed to fund a smear campaign from the NLC.
He was repeating comparable statements he experienced previously designed in Parliament, which integrated advertisement hominem assaults on GroundUp which reporter but was careful not to name both.
“I came below in this August residence very last 12 months and claimed to honourable users that information about our beneficiaries continues to be stolen and put in a single point out in the united states,” he advised MPs.
“We named about the State Stability Company to come look into the make any difference mainly because we're getting stories that our details is generating income for media platforms and journalists,” he stated. “There was speak, not surprisingly from a single supply, a person media, that spoke Significantly about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda claimed (referring to GroundUp), but didn't convey to MPs which the SSA investigation were completed Nearly a yr earlier.
Proactive funding was at the heart from the looting from the lottery. It side-stepped the traditional grant system. The NLC could alone establish a task to fund and appoint a non-income organisation to oversee it.
After Nevhutanda to start with advised Parliament in 2018 that he had requested the SSA to investigate the intended breach, the South African Countrywide Editors Forum issued a press release stating that his remarks mirrored “a particularly risky Mindset wherever the media is becoming blamed to the NLC’s inherent complications”.
“As opposed to investigating why thousands and thousands can't be accounted for, the NLC has in its place made an effort to Forged question to the integrity of your journalists associated and it has asked the SSA to investigate their resources.”
Proactive initiatives manufactured mystery
Security flaws discovered in the NLC grant funding procedure over the SSA’s investigation, show up to have already been utilised as an excuse because of the NLC to get rid of all proactive-funded initiatives from its central grants technique.
“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all pro-actively funding tasks was heightened to ‘secret’ and jobs were being removed from the grant funding program and managed manually under the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Facts Office environment, Govt Supervisor Legal to be able to safeguard [the] facts,” Nene said in her affidavit.
“There was a great deal of interior discussion, with a great deal of forwards and backwards, about what to do to plug the alleged leaks”, a resource, who was in a senior posture for the NLC at time, informed GroundUp. “Eventually, the decision was taken to eliminate the many proactive tasks from the technique and Restrict entry to A few people”.
Some in that handful of men and women were being implicated in corruption.
Maselwa, who resigned from your NLC various many years in the past, continues to be implicated in corruption involving lottery cash. He gained R4.three-million from lottery resources allotted to build a library and museum sophisticated in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Audio and Arts Expo) which he utilised to create a property in an upmarket gated improvement in Pretoria. The property is among many paid for with lottery resources that were frozen once the Asset Forfeiture Unit obtained a preservation buy in December 2022.
The politically-connected Nevhutanda, who was appointed given that the NLC board chairperson by former President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was near to higher-ups during the ANC leadership, former NLC previous Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-Main working officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated during the corruption which overcome the NLC on their own watch.
Also implicated are former board customers William Huma, who resigned after he was confronted with evidence of how he had profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, that has considering the fact that died.
When a new administration, such as the entire board and executive, took over in the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they found a “chaotic mess” within the documentation referring to proactive funding, A lot of which was paper-based. Key files have been lacking. Documents held for safekeeping by doc storage corporation Metrofile had been signed out and hardly ever returned.
The NLC was capable to recover copies of some หวย ออก files from its Mimecast e mail archiving method and also the laptops in their assistants and help staff.
Information reports
In his one December 2018 letter, addressed to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has famous with grave concern attainable information safety breaches as well as unauthorised use and/or dissemination of confidential details received on account of executing official functions while in the Fee by NLC workforce. The actions are intended to undermine the integrity in the Commission whilst disrupting the efficient functions [of your NLC] and causing insurmountable reputational hurt to your Commission as the custodian of private information and facts entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”
His request for the SSA to analyze was supported in an affidavit by suspended NLC corporation secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.
Nene is at the moment facing a disciplinary inquiry immediately after she was unsuccessful in legal action to set aside conclusions of irregular expenditure on her view.
The objective of her affidavit, Nene said, was “to document the gatherings which transpired relating to details protection breaches for the Countrywide Lotteries Fee”.
She stated many information experiences which she claimed were being the effects of such “breaches” (see at the conclusion of this text).
Nene claimed that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that considered one of its personnel, Sello Qhino, had “delivered her categorised NLC Data and persistently encouraged her to offer the data to GroundUp”.
Qhino, who blew the whistle on the number of dodgy lottery-funded projects in Kuruman immediately after attempts to boost The problem internally were dismissed, was subsequently fired.
Referring to an 18 November 2018 posting within the Day-to-day Dispatch about the misappropriation of Lottery funds, Nene stated that the NLC recognized after which suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an worker inside the NLC’s East London Business office, who was the associate along with the mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s a few little ones.
Rungqu and Makatse believe that Rungqu was punished due to the fact Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and charged internally, While using the NLC shelling out R470,000 on lawyers to characterize it, but was discovered not responsible and permitted to return to work.
“The frequent Think about these posts is the fact [they involve] categorized facts concerning proactive funding projects,” Nene mentioned in her affidavit.
When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out on the relatives dwelling to go ahead and take heat off her and his young children. Going through homelessness, he moved into an Business office in an vacant manufacturing unit belonging to a buddy.
The two Makatse and Qhino are participating in an NLC reparation process meant to recognise the harm lots of people endured at the palms from the NLC. Apologies and, occasionally, economic payment are expected.
“Some men and women were actually afflicted very negatively by this … This is absolutely distressing,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz explained to the Every day Maverick final yr.
“I satisfied several these persons. It had been just so heart-wrenching that their complete lives happen to be turned upside down,” stated Scholtz.
Among those she met ended up Qhino and Makatse.
Risk-free platform desired for whistleblowers
The SSA observed the absence at time of an appropriate channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn into the media.
“Failure to have a committed anti-corruption channel will result in staff members presenting this sort of conditions beyond the NLC,” the SSA stated in its results.
“Offered the magnitude of corruption in point out establishments, it continues to be vital that it makes sure that the NLC complies with all security prescripts and that its target is on guaranteeing that unlawful and irregular perform is sufficiently mitigated in opposition to and by making sure an sufficient channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward carry out without getting intimidated.”
It advisable the NLC set up a “Protected channel” for employees to deliver info on any “untoward activity” that will not protect against or discourage workforce from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers coverage, according to the Shielded Disclosures Act twenty five of 2000, is usually a necessity.”
Media reviews Nene listed
A 10 December 2017 report in the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Wellbeing and Physical fitness Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has worked carefully with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and proprietor of the Limpopo Mirror, to expose NLC corruption. “The short article experienced elements of knowledge not offered in the general public area, therefore increasing worry on inside Information and facts stability breaches. The allegations in the media have been independently investigated,” Nene explained. “On the other hand, personnel to blame for divulging categorized info have yet to generally be recognized”;
A 28 January 2018 post released from the Dally Dispatch “citing a lot of allegations from your Limpopo Mirror posting printed on ten December 2017 and a new allegation referring to a former personnel via the name of Mzukisi Makatse. He was charged and summarily dismissed with the danger brought on on the organisation.”
A 16 November 2018 report from the Lowvelder regarding the misappropriation of NLC money involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has noted how, in spite of acquiring R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has never been completed. “The Lowvelder posting contained labeled info concerning NLC coverage, boosting even further issues of inside info protection breaches,” Nene stated in her affidavit. “The prima facie evidence with regards to these allegations didn't warrant an unbiased Investigation, even so [it] highlighted the heightened information safety challenges in the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a couple of dodgy R27.5-million grant to Denzhe Major Care, a hijacked NPO. Nene said GroundUp experienced verified in its story that it was based on leaked NLC paperwork. This was despite the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Advertising of Entry to Details) ask for for information regarding the venture, she claimed