Previous Countrywide Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda questioned the State Protection Company (SSA) in December 2018 to investigate the leaking of documents that exposed lottery corruption.
The NLC’s company secretary at the time detailed media experiences she said had been based upon “stolen” information and facts within an affidavit for that SSA.
The SSA did examine. It located the knowledge was not a make any difference of condition safety and that the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “enough motive” to the media to expose it.
A completely new board and management has given that taken over the NLC and To date have taken measures to end corruption within the institution.
A Condition Stability Company (SSA) investigation identified the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “provided ample motive” for exposure because of the media.
The probe into meant “information security breaches and sabotage of NLC operations” was undertaken right after then-NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda wrote on the SSA in December 2018 requesting it to research.
Here is
Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by at present suspended NLC organization secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the request, and
the safety company’s “confidential” conclusions and proposals.
Nevhutanda requested the SSA to investigate the job of NLC staff members while in the alleged leaking of information, and Nene, in her affidavit determined certain media and experiences that she claimed concerned these leaks.
While in the letter outlining its findings, the SSA explained to the NLC that while preserving condition details was “a authorized crucial aimed toward guarding the sovereignty and integrity with the state” this only placed on properly labeled data.
Even though it didn't say so instantly, the SSA conclusions implied which the allegedly leaked information didn't fall into this category.
Significantly, the SSA created it clear that the need to guard point out facts “won't protect against any person from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminality”.
The SSA investigation observed that the NLC data linked to the alleged breach was “sensitive and privileged in character, but not categorized with regards to the prescripts on the Minimum amount Facts Security Standards (Miss out on)”.
“The leakage in the appropriate delicate official NLC info into the media will not pose a risk to countrywide protection,” the SSA explained, introducing which the impact of your breaches was reputational.
The SSA report discovered “no evidence of a factual and incriminating nature from any with the suspected NLC employees that would be recognized from the knowledge and information interrogated”.
Additionally, it mentioned that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities inside the NLC and at its beneficiaries does deliver ample motive to own this kind of exposed while in the media”.
Conspiracy statements
In 2020, Nevhutanda informed MPs during a session of Parliament’s trade, sector and competition portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” during which details “stolen” within the NLC was despatched to your US, where by he claimed it absolutely was currently being offered to fund a smear campaign versus the NLC.
He was repeating identical statements he had Beforehand manufactured in Parliament, which incorporated advert hominem attacks on GroundUp which reporter but was watchful not to name possibly.
“I came below On this August dwelling previous 12 months and reported to honourable associates that information regarding our beneficiaries has long been stolen and set in a single point out in America,” he informed MPs.
“We named over the Point out Protection Agency to return consider the make a difference simply because we are obtaining reviews that our details is creating income for media platforms and journalists,” he mentioned. “There's been chat, naturally from one particular supply, a single media, that spoke much about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda claimed (referring to GroundUp), but failed to convey to MPs the SSA investigation had been done Just about a yr before.
Proactive funding was at the heart of the looting on the lottery. It side-stepped the normal grant approach. The NLC could alone determine a task to fund and appoint a non-gain organisation to supervise it.
Following Nevhutanda very first advised Parliament in 2018 that he experienced requested the SSA to research the intended breach, the South African National Editors Forum issued an announcement declaring that his remarks mirrored “a very risky Mind-set wherever the media is currently being blamed to the NLC’s inherent troubles”.
“As opposed to investigating why millions can't be accounted for, the NLC has as an alternative made an effort to Forged question over the integrity of the journalists involved and has asked the SSA to investigate their sources.”
Proactive assignments designed mystery
Safety flaws discovered while in the NLC grant funding process throughout the SSA’s investigation, seem to have been utilized as an justification through the NLC to eliminate all proactive-funded jobs from its central grants program.
“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all pro-actively funding projects was heightened to ‘magic formula’ and projects had been removed from the grant funding procedure and maintained manually under the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Info Business office, Government Manager Lawful so as to safeguard [the] facts,” Nene said in her affidavit.
“There was a lot of interior discussion, with a lot of forwards and backwards, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a supply, who was inside a senior position for the NLC at time, explained to GroundUp. “Eventually, the choice was taken to eliminate every one of the proactive jobs from your process and limit access to A few individuals”.
Some in that handful of men and women ended up implicated in corruption.
Maselwa, who resigned within the NLC various a long time back, has become implicated in corruption involving lottery resources. He received R4.3-million from lottery resources allotted to make a library and museum sophisticated in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Tunes and Arts Expo) which he made use of to make a dwelling within an upmarket gated progress in Pretoria. The residence is one of many paid out for with lottery funds which were frozen following the Asset Forfeiture Unit obtained a preservation order in December 2022.
The politically-related Nevhutanda, who was appointed as being the NLC board chairperson by former President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was near to large-ups inside the ANC Management, former NLC former Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-Main operating officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated while in the corruption which confused the NLC on their enjoy.
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, who's got since died.
Whenever a new administration, including the whole board and executive, took above on the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they identified a “chaotic mess” inside the documentation associated with proactive funding, Substantially of which was paper-dependent. Essential paperwork ended up lacking. Files held for safekeeping by document storage corporation Metrofile had been signed out and under no circumstances returned.
The NLC was able to recover copies of some ruay files from its Mimecast email archiving technique and the laptops of their assistants and assistance personnel.
Information stories
In his one December 2018 letter, resolved to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has observed with grave worry attainable facts protection breaches along with the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of confidential info attained on account of undertaking official capabilities from the Commission by NLC workforce. The functions are meant to undermine the integrity in the Fee even though disrupting the efficient features [of the NLC] and triggering insurmountable reputational hurt for the Fee given that the custodian of personal details entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”
His ask for for the SSA to research was supported in an affidavit by suspended NLC corporation secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.
Nene is now facing a disciplinary inquiry right after she was unsuccessful in legal motion to put aside results of irregular expenditure on her observe.
The purpose of her affidavit, Nene stated, was “to record the occasions which transpired relating to information protection breaches on the National Lotteries Commission”.
She listed many news reports which she claimed ended up the outcomes of such “breaches” (see at the end of this information).
Nene mentioned that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that amongst its workers, Sello Qhino, had “presented her categorised NLC Information and persistently encouraged her to provide the information to GroundUp”.
Qhino, who blew the whistle on a series of dodgy lottery-funded projects in Kuruman following attempts to raise The difficulty internally were being disregarded, was subsequently fired.
Referring to an eighteen November 2018 report inside the Everyday Dispatch regarding the misappropriation of Lottery resources, Nene claimed that the NLC discovered and afterwards suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an employee during the NLC’s East London Office environment, who was the companion as well as mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s 3 small children.
Rungqu and Makatse feel Rungqu was punished for the reason that Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and charged internally, With all the NLC paying out R470,000 on legal professionals to symbolize it, but was observed not responsible and permitted to return to work.
“The widespread Consider these articles or blog posts is the fact [they require] labeled data associated with proactive funding tasks,” Nene reported in her affidavit.
When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out from the loved ones residence to take the heat off her and his children. Facing homelessness, he moved into an Workplace within an empty factory belonging to an acquaintance.
Both equally Makatse and Qhino are participating in an NLC reparation procedure intended to recognise the hurt some individuals endured for the arms of the NLC. Apologies and, in some instances, fiscal compensation are predicted.
“Some persons ended up definitely afflicted pretty negatively by this … This is really distressing,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz instructed the Day-to-day Maverick previous year.
“I achieved a handful of these men and women. It was just so coronary heart-wrenching that their entire life have already been turned the other way up,” mentioned Scholtz.
Among the People she achieved had been Qhino and Makatse.
Harmless platform essential for whistleblowers
The SSA uncovered the absence at the time of a correct channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn to your media.
“Failure to possess a focused anti-corruption channel will result in workers presenting these kinds of scenarios beyond the NLC,” the SSA explained in its results.
“Presented the magnitude of corruption in condition institutions, it remains essential that it ensures that the NLC complies with all protection prescripts Which its focus is on making certain that illegal and irregular perform is sufficiently mitigated towards and by guaranteeing an adequate channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward perform devoid of getting intimidated.”
It proposed the NLC set up a “Safe and sound channel” for employees to supply information on any “untoward activity” that would not prevent or discourage employees from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers policy, according to the Secured Disclosures Act twenty five of 2000, can be a requirement.”
Media studies Nene listed
A 10 December 2017 report during the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Overall health and Fitness Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has worked closely with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and owner from the Limpopo Mirror, to expose NLC corruption. “The report experienced factors of data not obtainable in the public area, therefore elevating concern on interior Information and facts protection breaches. The allegations while in the media have been independently investigated,” Nene stated. “Nevertheless, workforce chargeable for divulging labeled info have yet to generally be determined”;
A 28 January 2018 write-up published because of the Dally Dispatch “citing several allegations within the Limpopo Mirror report published on 10 December 2017 as well as a new allegation associated with a previous personnel because of the identify of Mzukisi Makatse. He was charged and summarily dismissed for your danger caused on the organisation.”
A 16 November 2018 posting from the Lowvelder about the misappropriation of NLC cash involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has documented how, in spite of obtaining R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has not been finished. “The Lowvelder post contained categorised data when it comes to NLC plan, raising additional issues of internal information and facts safety breaches,” Nene reported in her affidavit. “The prima facie proof with regards to these allegations didn't warrant an unbiased Investigation, nonetheless [it] highlighted the heightened facts stability hazards inside the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose about a dodgy R27.five-million grant to Denzhe Key Care, a hijacked NPO. Nene said GroundUp experienced confirmed in its Tale that it absolutely was according to leaked NLC files. This was Regardless of the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Promotion of Usage of Facts) request for details about the job, she explained