Lottery bosses turned to State Security Agency to investigate leaks

Lottery bosses turned to State Security Agency to investigate leaks

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Previous Countrywide Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda questioned the Condition Security Company (SSA) in December 2018 to investigate the leaking of documents that exposed lottery corruption.
The NLC’s corporation secretary at time stated media studies she stated were being determined by “stolen” information within an affidavit with the SSA.
The SSA did look into. It found the data wasn't a make any difference of condition safety and which the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “sufficient motive” for the media to expose it.
A fresh board and management has since taken in excess of the NLC and To date have taken actions to end corruption on the establishment.
A Condition Safety Agency (SSA) investigation uncovered the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “offered ample motive” for exposure because of the media.

The probe into supposed “information stability 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 analyze.

Here is

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by at this time suspended NLC organization secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the ask for, and
the security agency’s “confidential” conclusions and proposals.
Nevhutanda requested the SSA to investigate the function of NLC personnel during the alleged leaking of knowledge, and Nene, in her affidavit identified unique media and stories that she claimed concerned these leaks.

In the letter outlining its findings, the SSA explained to the NLC that although guarding condition information was “a authorized crucial aimed at safeguarding the sovereignty and integrity of the state” this only applied to appropriately classified information and facts.

Although it did not say so immediately, the SSA findings implied the allegedly leaked information and facts didn't drop into this class.

Drastically, the SSA manufactured it obvious that the necessity to defend state info “doesn't stop any specific from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or illegal activity”.

The SSA investigation observed that the NLC information and facts linked to the alleged breach was “sensitive and privileged in character, but not categorised with regard to the prescripts of your Minimal Details Security Specifications (MISS)”.

“The leakage of the applicable delicate Formal NLC facts for the media will not pose a menace to national stability,” the SSA mentioned, including that the influence of the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report identified “no evidence of the factual and incriminating character in opposition to any in the suspected NLC workers that could be determined from the information 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 such exposed during the media”.

Conspiracy claims
In 2020, Nevhutanda informed MPs for the duration of a session of Parliament’s trade, industry and Level of competition portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” by which info “stolen” through the NLC was despatched to the US, wherever he claimed it was currently being marketed to fund a smear campaign towards the NLC.

He was repeating very similar statements he had Formerly manufactured in Parliament, which involved advertisement hominem attacks on GroundUp which reporter but was thorough not to name either.

“I arrived right here During this August property final 12 months and reported to honourable associates that specifics of our beneficiaries is stolen and set in a single state in America,” he advised MPs.

“We termed around the State Security Agency to come back take a look at the issue for the reason that we've been having experiences that our information and facts is generating money for media platforms and journalists,” he mentioned. “There's been chat, of course from 1 resource, 1 media, that spoke Considerably about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda explained (referring to GroundUp), but did not notify MPs the SSA investigation had been completed almost a calendar year previously.

Proactive funding was at the heart in the looting of the lottery. It aspect-stepped the normal grant system. The NLC could alone recognize a venture to fund and appoint a non-earnings organisation to oversee it.

Following Nevhutanda first explained to Parliament in 2018 that he had questioned the SSA to research the meant breach, the South African Nationwide Editors Discussion board issued a statement indicating that his remarks reflected “an extremely unsafe attitude the place the media is being blamed for your NLC’s inherent complications”.

“As opposed to investigating why tens of millions can not be accounted for, the NLC has instead tried to cast question around the integrity from the journalists involved and it has questioned the SSA to research their sources.”

Proactive tasks produced magic formula
Security flaws discovered while in the NLC grant funding program through the SSA’s investigation, appear to are actually applied as an excuse by the NLC to get rid of all proactive-funded jobs from its central grants technique.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all Professional-actively funding projects was heightened to ‘solution’ and projects had been removed from the grant funding process and maintained manually under the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Details Office environment, Govt Supervisor Authorized 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 what to do to plug the alleged leaks”, a resource, who was in the senior place in the NLC at some time, advised GroundUp. “In the end, the choice was taken to remove the many proactive assignments in the procedure and limit usage of a handful of individuals”.

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

Maselwa, who resigned in the NLC quite a few several years back, has become implicated in corruption involving lottery funds. He gained R4.3-million from lottery funds allocated to develop a library and museum complicated in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Music and Arts Expo) which he utilized to create a home within an upmarket gated growth in Pretoria. The home is among a number of paid out for with lottery cash which were frozen once the Asset Forfeiture Device received a preservation purchase in December 2022.

The politically-connected Nevhutanda, who was appointed as being the NLC board chairperson by former President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was near to large-ups from the ANC leadership, previous NLC former Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-chief functioning officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated from the corruption which overwhelmed the NLC on their own observe.

Also implicated are previous board members William Huma, who resigned just after he was confronted with evidence of how he had profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, who may have due to the fact died.

When a new administration, including the overall board and govt, took over on the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they uncovered a “chaotic mess” inside the documentation concerning proactive funding, A lot of which was paper-centered. Essential paperwork had been missing. Information held for safekeeping by document storage organization Metrofile were signed out and in no way returned.

The NLC was in the position to Recuperate copies of some หวย หุ้น paperwork from its Mimecast email archiving procedure and the laptops in their assistants and guidance staff members.

News studies
In his 1 December 2018 letter, dealt with to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has famous with grave problem achievable details safety breaches as well as the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of private information and facts received as a result of doing Formal capabilities within the Commission by NLC staff. The functions are meant to undermine the integrity with the Fee though disrupting the effective capabilities [of your NLC] and producing insurmountable reputational damage on the Commission as the custodian of private data entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

His request with the SSA to research was supported in an affidavit by suspended NLC enterprise secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.

Nene is now going through a disciplinary inquiry right after she was unsuccessful in lawful action to set aside results of irregular expenditure on her view.

The objective of her affidavit, Nene said, was “to file the events which transpired referring to facts security breaches in the Nationwide Lotteries Fee”.

She mentioned different news studies which she claimed ended up the final results of those “breaches” (see at the end of this information).

Nene reported that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that certainly one of its employees, Sello Qhino, experienced “presented her classified NLC Information and persistently inspired her to provide the data to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle on the number of dodgy lottery-funded assignments in Kuruman after makes an attempt to lift the issue internally ended up ignored, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an 18 November 2018 article in the Day by day Dispatch concerning the misappropriation of Lottery funds, Nene stated that the NLC determined and after that suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an worker while in the NLC’s East London Business, who was the companion as well as the mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s three little ones.

Rungqu and Makatse consider Rungqu was punished for the reason that Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and charged internally, Using the NLC paying R470,000 on lawyers to stand for it, but was uncovered not guilty and allowed to return to work.

“The common Consider these articles or blog posts is [they contain] categorized information concerning proactive funding tasks,” Nene reported 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 young children. Struggling with homelessness, he moved into an office in an empty manufacturing facility belonging to an acquaintance.

Each Makatse and Qhino are participating in an NLC reparation approach intended to recognise the hurt some people experienced within the palms with the NLC. Apologies and, sometimes, economic payment are anticipated.

“Some individuals ended up truly influenced very negatively by this … This is absolutely distressing,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz told the Day-to-day Maverick very last calendar year.

“I achieved a few these folks. It had been just so heart-wrenching that their entire lives are already turned upside down,” mentioned Scholtz.

Amongst Individuals she satisfied had been Qhino and Makatse.

Secure System wanted for whistleblowers
The SSA observed the absence at time of an appropriate channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn to the media.

“Failure to possess a dedicated anti-corruption channel will cause workers presenting these types of circumstances beyond the NLC,” the SSA said in its results.

“Supplied the magnitude of corruption in point out institutions, it remains vital that it makes sure that the NLC complies with all protection prescripts Which its concentration is on making sure that unlawful and irregular perform is sufficiently mitigated in opposition to and by guaranteeing an enough channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward carry out with no currently being intimidated.”

It advisable that the NLC establish a “Harmless channel” for workers to provide info on any “untoward activity” that may not protect against or discourage personnel from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers policy, based upon the Protected Disclosures Act twenty five of 2000, is really a need.”

Media reviews Nene stated
A ten December 2017 report inside the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Health and fitness and Physical fitness Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has worked closely with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and owner in the Limpopo Mirror, to reveal NLC corruption. “The report had aspects of knowledge not offered in the public domain, thus increasing problem on internal Info stability breaches. The allegations from the media have been independently investigated,” Nene mentioned. “Nevertheless, employees responsible for divulging classified facts have but to generally be recognized”;
A 28 January 2018 short article published with the Dally Dispatch “citing numerous allegations from your Limpopo Mirror report posted on 10 December 2017 along with a new allegation associated with a former worker because of the title of Mzukisi Makatse. He was charged and summarily dismissed to the risk triggered on the organisation.”
A 16 November 2018 post inside the Lowvelder with regards to the misappropriation of NLC money involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has reported how, Despite getting R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab hasn't been accomplished. “The Lowvelder post contained categorised data when it comes to NLC coverage, boosting more fears of internal data stability breaches,” Nene stated in her affidavit. “The prima facie evidence regarding these allegations did not warrant an impartial Investigation, on the other hand [it] highlighted the heightened details safety hazards inside the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose about a dodgy R27.5-million grant to Denzhe Primary Treatment, a hijacked NPO. Nene reported GroundUp experienced confirmed in its Tale that it had been determined by leaked NLC documents. This was despite the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Advertising of Entry to Info) ask for for information in regards to the venture, she reported