Former Countrywide Lotteries Fee (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda questioned the Condition Safety Agency (SSA) in December 2018 to research the leaking of documents that exposed lottery corruption.
The NLC’s corporation secretary at the time stated media reviews she reported had been according to “stolen” facts within an affidavit for the SSA.
The SSA did investigate. It located the knowledge wasn't a subject of point out protection and the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “sufficient motive” to the media to reveal it.
A whole new board and management has given that taken above the NLC and So far have taken steps to finish corruption on the establishment.
A Condition Security Company (SSA) investigation discovered which the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “presented ample motive” for exposure by the media.
The probe into intended “information and facts safety breaches and sabotage of NLC functions” was carried out following then-NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda wrote to your SSA in December 2018 requesting it to investigate.
Here is
Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by at present suspended NLC corporation secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the ask for, and
the safety company’s “private” results and suggestions.
Nevhutanda requested the SSA to research the position of NLC personnel from the alleged leaking of knowledge, and Nene, in her affidavit recognized certain media and reviews that she claimed involved these leaks.
During the letter outlining its results, the SSA advised the NLC that whilst protecting condition details was “a lawful essential aimed at shielding the sovereignty and integrity from the condition” this only placed on correctly categorised information.
Even though it did not say so directly, the SSA conclusions implied which the allegedly leaked information and facts didn't fall into this category.
Substantially, the SSA designed it apparent that the need to guard point out data “would not reduce any particular person from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminality”.
The SSA investigation located that the NLC details involved with the alleged breach was “delicate and privileged in character, but not categorized when it comes to the prescripts in the Minimum amount Details Safety Benchmarks (Overlook)”.
“The leakage in the appropriate sensitive official NLC details to your media isn't going to pose a menace to nationwide protection,” the SSA explained, adding which the effect of the breaches was reputational.
The SSA report observed “no proof of a factual and incriminating character versus any in the suspected NLC staff members that might be determined from the knowledge and information interrogated”.
Furthermore, it said that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities in the NLC and at its beneficiaries does present sufficient motive to own this sort of exposed while in the media”.
Conspiracy claims
In 2020, Nevhutanda advised MPs for the duration of a session of Parliament’s trade, business and Competitors portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” through which facts “stolen” from the NLC was sent to the US, where by he claimed it was remaining marketed to fund a smear marketing campaign from the NLC.
He was repeating comparable claims he experienced Formerly manufactured in Parliament, which incorporated advertisement hominem assaults on GroundUp which reporter but was very careful not to name both.
“I came in this article With this August residence final yr and documented to honourable associates that details about our beneficiaries has actually been stolen and place in one condition in America,” he explained to MPs.
“We named on the Condition Stability Agency to come back look into the issue because we are receiving stories that our information and facts is generating funds for media platforms and journalists,” he claimed. “There have been converse, certainly from one resource, one media, that spoke A lot about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda said (referring to GroundUp), but did not inform MPs which the SSA investigation had been done Nearly a 12 months earlier.
Proactive funding was at the center of the looting on the lottery. It facet-stepped the normal grant system. The NLC could itself establish a venture to fund and appoint a non-gain organisation to oversee it.
Immediately after Nevhutanda first informed Parliament in 2018 that he had requested the SSA to research the intended breach, the South African Nationwide Editors Discussion board issued a statement stating that his remarks reflected “an extremely harmful Perspective wherever the media is staying blamed for that NLC’s inherent troubles”.
“In lieu of investigating why hundreds of thousands can not be accounted for, the NLC has as a substitute tried to cast question within the integrity in the journalists associated and it has asked the SSA to research their resources.”
Proactive projects manufactured secret
Safety flaws determined within the NLC grant funding process during the SSA’s investigation, seem to are utilized as an justification through the NLC to eliminate all proactive-funded jobs from its central grants method.
“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all pro-actively funding tasks was heightened to ‘mystery’ and initiatives ended up removed from the grant funding process and maintained manually under the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Data Office, Executive Manager Legal in order to safeguard [the] facts,” Nene reported in her affidavit.
“There was a lot of interior discussion, with plenty of back and forth, about what to do to plug the alleged leaks”, a resource, who was in a very senior posture at the NLC at some time, instructed GroundUp. “Ultimately, the decision was taken to eliminate every one of the proactive projects through the procedure and Restrict access to A few people today”.
Some in that handful of folks ended up implicated in corruption.
Maselwa, who resigned from the NLC several many years ago, is implicated in corruption involving lottery funds. He received R4.three-million from lottery money allocated to construct a library and museum advanced in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Audio and Arts Expo) which he applied to build a house within an upmarket gated development in Pretoria. The property is among many compensated for with lottery cash that were frozen once the Asset Forfeiture Unit obtained a preservation buy 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 substantial-ups while in the ANC Management, previous NLC previous Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-Main functioning officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated in the corruption which overwhelmed the NLC on their own view.
Also implicated are previous board associates William Huma, who resigned after he was confronted with proof of how he experienced profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, that has because died.
Any time a new administration, including the total board and govt, took more than for the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they found a “chaotic mess” while in the documentation concerning proactive funding, Significantly of which was paper-based mostly. Critical files ended up lacking. Documents held for safekeeping by document storage organization Metrofile had been signed out and in no way returned.
The NLC was capable to Recuperate copies of some luckyvip77 documents from its Mimecast e-mail archiving technique plus the laptops in their assistants and guidance team.
Information stories
In his 1 December 2018 letter, addressed to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has noted with grave concern probable information and facts protection breaches as well as the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of confidential facts acquired on account of undertaking official features in the Commission by NLC workforce. The pursuits are meant to undermine the integrity from the Commission though disrupting the efficient features [with the NLC] and causing insurmountable reputational harm on the Fee as being the custodian of private information and facts entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”
His ask for with the SSA to analyze was supported within an affidavit by suspended NLC enterprise secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.
Nene is now struggling with a disciplinary inquiry after she was unsuccessful in lawful action to put aside results of irregular expenditure on her observe.
The purpose of her affidavit, Nene claimed, was “to file the occasions which transpired concerning data security breaches with the National Lotteries Commission”.
She stated numerous news stories which she claimed had been the final results of such “breaches” (see at the conclusion of this text).
Nene said that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that certainly one of its personnel, Sello Qhino, had “presented her labeled NLC Data and persistently encouraged her to supply the information to GroundUp”.
Qhino, who blew the whistle on a number of dodgy lottery-funded initiatives in Kuruman soon after makes an attempt to lift The problem internally had been ignored, was subsequently fired.
Referring to an eighteen November 2018 post in the Each day Dispatch in regards to the misappropriation of Lottery funds, Nene explained which the NLC recognized after which you can suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an worker from the NLC’s East London Workplace, who was the lover and the mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s three youngsters.
Rungqu and Makatse imagine Rungqu was punished for the reason that Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and billed internally, While using the NLC spending R470,000 on legal professionals to stand for it, but was uncovered not responsible and allowed to return to operate.
“The prevalent Consider these content articles is usually that [they include] categorized facts concerning proactive funding projects,” Nene stated in her affidavit.
When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out on the relatives dwelling to go ahead and take heat off her and his youngsters. Going through homelessness, he moved into an Business office in an vacant manufacturing facility belonging to a buddy.
The two Makatse and Qhino are participating in an NLC reparation course of action intended to recognise the hurt a lot of people suffered within the fingers of your NLC. Apologies and, in some instances, financial payment are envisioned.
“Some folks were being actually influenced very negatively by this … This is absolutely agonizing,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz explained to the Every day Maverick final yr.
“I satisfied a handful of these people today. It absolutely was just so coronary heart-wrenching that their total lives have already been turned the wrong way up,” stated Scholtz.
Amongst those she achieved 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 to the media.
“Failure to have a focused anti-corruption channel will cause workforce presenting these kinds of cases outside of the NLC,” the SSA claimed in its conclusions.
“Offered the magnitude of corruption in condition establishments, it continues to be crucial that it ensures that the NLC complies with all safety prescripts and that its aim is on guaranteeing that unlawful and irregular carry out is sufficiently mitigated from and by making certain an suitable channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward conduct without the need of getting intimidated.”
It encouraged which the NLC establish a “Protected channel” for employees to offer info on any “untoward action” that could not protect against or discourage workforce from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers plan, dependant on the Shielded Disclosures Act twenty five of 2000, can be a necessity.”
Media reviews Nene listed
A ten December 2017 report from the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Wellbeing and Conditioning Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has labored closely with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and owner of the Limpopo Mirror, to show NLC corruption. “The post experienced factors of data not out there in the public domain, thus elevating issue on internal Information and facts safety breaches. The allegations during the media had been independently investigated,” Nene explained. “Having said that, employees answerable for divulging labeled data have still being determined”;
A 28 January 2018 short article revealed through the Dally Dispatch “citing several allegations from your Limpopo Mirror post posted on 10 December 2017 in addition to a new allegation associated with a previous worker by the title of Mzukisi Makatse. He was charged and summarily dismissed with the risk brought on into the organisation.”
A 16 November 2018 posting while in the Lowvelder regarding the misappropriation of NLC cash involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has claimed how, in spite of receiving R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has never been completed. “The Lowvelder post contained categorized data regarding NLC coverage, elevating more considerations of internal information and facts protection breaches,” Nene mentioned in her affidavit. “The prima facie proof regarding these allegations did not warrant an unbiased Investigation, on the other hand [it] highlighted the heightened data stability hazards throughout the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose about a dodgy R27.5-million grant to Denzhe Most important Care, a hijacked NPO. Nene reported GroundUp experienced confirmed in its story that it had been based on leaked NLC documents. This was Regardless of the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Advertising of Access to Facts) ask for for particulars with regard to the venture, she mentioned
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