Previous Nationwide Lotteries Fee (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda asked the State Protection Agency (SSA) in December 2018 to research the leaking of paperwork that exposed lottery corruption.
The NLC’s corporation secretary at some time mentioned media reports she said were depending on “stolen” data in an affidavit with the SSA.
The SSA did examine. It identified the information wasn't a issue of point out security and the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “sufficient motive” for the media to reveal it.
A brand new board and management has because taken over the NLC and To this point have taken measures to finish corruption for the institution.
A State Stability Agency (SSA) investigation found that the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “offered enough motive” for publicity because of the media.
The probe into supposed “information protection breaches and sabotage of NLC operations” was undertaken following then-NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda wrote into the SSA in December 2018 requesting it to investigate.
Here is
Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by currently suspended NLC enterprise secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the ask for, and
the security company’s “private” findings and suggestions.
Nevhutanda questioned the SSA to analyze the position of NLC personnel from the alleged leaking of knowledge, and Nene, in her affidavit discovered specific media and reports that she claimed included these leaks.
From the letter outlining its conclusions, the SSA informed the NLC that although defending point out information and facts was “a lawful crucial aimed toward shielding the sovereignty and integrity of your point out” this only placed on properly categorized info.
Although it didn't say so right, the SSA results implied that the allegedly leaked information and facts didn't fall into this classification.
Noticeably, the SSA manufactured it very clear that the necessity to defend state facts “doesn't protect against any personal from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminality”.
The SSA investigation discovered the NLC information and facts involved in the alleged breach was “sensitive and privileged in character, but not labeled in terms of the prescripts in the Bare minimum Facts Protection Benchmarks (Pass up)”.
“The leakage of your relevant delicate official NLC details towards the media doesn't pose a danger to nationwide security,” the SSA said, incorporating that the effects on the breaches was reputational.
The SSA report identified “no proof of a factual and incriminating character versus any on the suspected NLC employees that would be identified from the information and facts interrogated”.
Additionally, it said that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities in the NLC and at its beneficiaries does deliver ample motive to possess this sort of exposed while in the media”.
Conspiracy statements
In 2020, Nevhutanda advised MPs through 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 equivalent promises he had Formerly built in Parliament, which incorporated advert hominem assaults on GroundUp and this reporter but was mindful not to call both.
“I arrived here In this particular August dwelling last year and noted to honourable associates that details about our beneficiaries has actually been stolen and place in one state in America,” he explained to MPs.
“We termed over the Point out Safety Agency to come back investigate the make a difference simply because we've been receiving reviews that our information and facts is creating money for media platforms and journalists,” he explained. “There was discuss, naturally from one resource, a single media, that spoke A great deal about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda mentioned (referring to GroundUp), but failed to inform MPs which the SSA investigation had been concluded Pretty much a yr earlier.
Proactive funding was at the guts with the looting in the lottery. It side-stepped the normal grant approach. The NLC could itself detect a venture to fund and appoint a non-financial gain organisation to supervise it.
Right after Nevhutanda 1st instructed Parliament in 2018 that he had asked the SSA to investigate the intended breach, the South African Nationwide Editors Forum issued a statement stating that his remarks reflected “a particularly hazardous Mindset in which the media is being blamed for that NLC’s inherent difficulties”.
“Rather than investigating why thousands and thousands can't be accounted for, the NLC has instead tried to cast question around the integrity in the journalists concerned and has questioned the SSA to analyze their resources.”
Proactive assignments manufactured mystery
Safety flaws identified in the NLC grant funding procedure in the SSA’s investigation, show up to have already been utilized being an justification with the NLC to remove all proactive-funded assignments from its central grants system.
“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all pro-actively funding jobs was heightened to ‘key’ and initiatives were removed from the grant funding technique and managed manually underneath 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 said in her affidavit.
“There was a lot of internal 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 placement in the NLC at some time, advised GroundUp. “In the end, the choice was taken to remove many of the proactive tasks within the program and Restrict access to a handful of persons”.
Some in that handful of people have been implicated in corruption.
Maselwa, who resigned from the NLC numerous yrs back, has been implicated in corruption involving lottery funds. He obtained R4.3-million from lottery money allocated to construct a library and museum sophisticated in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Songs and Arts Expo) which he employed to construct a residence within an upmarket gated enhancement in Pretoria. The residence is one of a number of compensated for with lottery cash that were frozen following the Asset Forfeiture Unit received a preservation order in December 2022.
The politically-related Nevhutanda, who was appointed since the NLC board chairperson by previous President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was close to significant-ups inside the ANC Management, previous 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 right after he was confronted with evidence of how he had profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, that has due to the fact died.
Any time a new administration, such as the full board and govt, took about for the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they learned a “chaotic mess” from the documentation associated with proactive funding, Considerably of which was paper-based mostly. Important files have been lacking. Documents held for safekeeping by doc storage firm Metrofile were signed out and never ever returned.
The NLC was in a position to Get well copies of some ตรวจ สลาก files from its Mimecast e mail archiving program and also the laptops in their assistants and help staff.
News reports
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 as well as the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of private information and facts obtained because of doing Formal features during the Fee by NLC workforce. The activities are meant to undermine the integrity of your Fee even though disrupting the powerful features [from the NLC] and creating insurmountable reputational hurt to your Commission as the custodian of private details entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”
His ask for to the SSA to investigate was supported in an affidavit by suspended NLC company secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.
Nene is at this time dealing with a disciplinary inquiry just after she was unsuccessful in legal 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 security breaches in the National Lotteries Commission”.
She outlined different news reports which she claimed were the results of such “breaches” (see at the conclusion of this text).
Nene claimed that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that one among its staff, Sello Qhino, experienced “provided her categorized NLC Facts and persistently encouraged her to supply the data to GroundUp”.
Qhino, who blew the whistle over a series of dodgy lottery-funded projects in Kuruman following tries to raise The problem internally were being dismissed, was subsequently fired.
Referring to an eighteen November 2018 article while in the Daily Dispatch with regard to the misappropriation of Lottery funds, Nene mentioned the NLC identified after which suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an employee inside the NLC’s East London Place of work, who was the companion plus the mom of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s 3 little ones.
Rungqu and Makatse believe that Rungqu was punished mainly because Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and billed internally, Using the NLC investing R470,000 on legal professionals to symbolize it, but was identified not responsible and allowed to return to work.
“The common Consider these articles is always that [they involve] classified information concerning proactive funding tasks,” Nene reported in her affidavit.
When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out in the spouse and children home to go ahead and take heat off her and his kids. Struggling with homelessness, he moved into an Business office within an empty factory belonging to a pal.
Each Makatse and Qhino are participating in an NLC reparation system intended to recognise the harm some individuals suffered at the arms with the NLC. Apologies and, sometimes, fiscal compensation are expected.
“Some people were definitely impacted pretty negatively by this … This is admittedly painful,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz informed the Each day Maverick previous year.
“I fulfilled a number of these people today. It was just so heart-wrenching that their complete life are turned the wrong way up,” mentioned Scholtz.
Between Those people she achieved had been Qhino and Makatse.
Harmless platform necessary for whistleblowers
The SSA identified the absence at some time of a correct channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn to the media.
“Failure to possess a committed anti-corruption channel will result in staff presenting this kind of cases outside of the NLC,” the SSA explained in its results.
“Provided the magnitude of corruption in condition establishments, it continues to be essential that it makes sure that the NLC complies with all protection prescripts and that its concentration is on making sure that illegal and irregular perform is sufficiently mitigated versus and by making sure an suitable channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward perform without the need of being intimidated.”
It suggested which the NLC create a “Protected channel” for workers to offer information on any “untoward exercise” that might not avoid or discourage personnel from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers plan, dependant on the Protected Disclosures Act twenty five of 2000, is usually a necessity.”
Media experiences Nene detailed
A ten December 2017 report during the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Wellbeing and Physical fitness Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has labored intently with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and operator in the Limpopo Mirror, to reveal NLC corruption. “The write-up had factors of information not obtainable in the public area, therefore elevating concern on interior Facts safety breaches. The allegations within the media were independently investigated,” Nene reported. “On the other hand, staff liable for divulging categorised details have nonetheless for being discovered”;
A 28 January 2018 post revealed via the Dally Dispatch “citing many allegations through the Limpopo Mirror posting published on 10 December 2017 along with a new allegation associated with a former worker from the name of Mzukisi Makatse. He was billed and summarily dismissed with the menace induced on the organisation.”
A 16 November 2018 article during the Lowvelder about the misappropriation of NLC cash involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has noted how, Despite getting R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab hasn't been accomplished. “The Lowvelder article contained labeled information with regard to NLC policy, elevating further considerations of inside information security breaches,” Nene explained in her affidavit. “The prima facie proof regarding these allegations didn't warrant an impartial Investigation, having said that [it] highlighted the heightened information security risks within the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a few dodgy R27.five-million grant to Denzhe Key Treatment, a hijacked NPO. Nene mentioned GroundUp had verified in its story that it was based on leaked NLC files. This was despite the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Advertising of Use of Info) ask for for specifics regarding the project, she explained