Lottery bosses turned to State Security Agency to investigate leaks

Lottery bosses turned to State Security Agency to investigate leaks

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Former Countrywide Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda requested the State Security Agency (SSA) in December 2018 to analyze the leaking of paperwork that uncovered lottery corruption.
The NLC’s business secretary at time stated media studies she explained had been depending on “stolen” information in an affidavit to the SSA.
The SSA did examine. It found the knowledge was not a issue of state safety and that the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “ample motive” for that media to show it.
A new board and administration has because taken in excess of the NLC and To date have taken measures to finish corruption for the institution.
A State Safety Agency (SSA) investigation discovered which the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “presented sufficient motive” for publicity by the media.

The probe into intended “facts safety breaches and sabotage of NLC functions” was undertaken soon after then-NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda wrote to your 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 safety agency’s “private” conclusions and proposals.
Nevhutanda asked the SSA to analyze the part of NLC staff from the alleged leaking of information, and Nene, in her affidavit determined unique media and reviews that she claimed included these leaks.

During the letter outlining its findings, the SSA informed the NLC that even though protecting state details was “a legal essential targeted at safeguarding the sovereignty and integrity of your condition” this only applied to appropriately categorised facts.

Although it didn't say so specifically, the SSA results implied which the allegedly leaked facts did not tumble into this class.

Substantially, the SSA made it crystal clear that the need to guard state facts “doesn't protect against any personal from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminality”.

The SSA investigation found that the NLC details involved with the alleged breach was “delicate and privileged in mother nature, although not labeled in terms of the prescripts from the Minimal Details Safety Specifications (Skip)”.

“The leakage from the related sensitive Formal NLC details for the media doesn't pose a danger to nationwide security,” the SSA claimed, adding which the influence of your breaches was reputational.

The SSA report located “no proof of a factual and incriminating character versus any from the suspected NLC staff members that may be determined from the knowledge and data interrogated”.

Furthermore, it mentioned that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities throughout the NLC and at its beneficiaries does provide ample motive to get these kinds of exposed while in the media”.

Conspiracy statements
In 2020, Nevhutanda informed MPs for the duration of a session of Parliament’s trade, sector and Levels of competition portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” where data “stolen” from your NLC was despatched on the US, in which he claimed it absolutely was currently being sold to fund a smear campaign against the NLC.

He was repeating very similar claims he had Beforehand created in Parliament, which bundled ad hominem attacks on GroundUp and this reporter but was very careful not to call either.

“I came listed here During this August home previous 12 months and claimed to honourable users that information regarding our beneficiaries has become stolen and set in a single point out in the united states,” he instructed MPs.

“We called around the State Safety Company to return consider the matter simply because we're receiving stories that our data is making income for media platforms and journalists,” he claimed. “There has been discuss, needless to say from a single supply, a single media, that spoke Substantially about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda said (referring to GroundUp), but failed to convey to MPs that the SSA investigation had been done Just about a year previously.

Proactive funding was at the guts in the looting from the lottery. It aspect-stepped the traditional grant process. The NLC could itself establish a project to fund and appoint a non-earnings organisation to oversee it.

Immediately after Nevhutanda very first instructed Parliament in 2018 that he experienced questioned the SSA to investigate the supposed breach, the South African National Editors Discussion board issued a press release saying that his remarks mirrored “a particularly perilous Perspective where by the media is getting blamed with the NLC’s inherent difficulties”.

“Rather than investigating why thousands and thousands can't be accounted for, the NLC has as a substitute made an effort to Forged question within the integrity from the journalists concerned and has questioned the SSA to analyze their sources.”

Proactive tasks produced magic formula
Security flaws discovered from the NLC grant funding program through the SSA’s investigation, appear to have been 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 tasks was heightened to ‘solution’ and projects have been faraway from the grant funding process and maintained manually under the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Details Office environment, Government Manager Authorized in an effort to safeguard [the] facts,” Nene claimed in her affidavit.

“There was many inside discussion, with plenty of back and forth, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a source, who was in a senior posture with the NLC at the time, explained to GroundUp. “In the long run, the choice was taken to remove many of the proactive assignments from the technique and Restrict access to a handful of people today”.

Some in that handful of people have been implicated in corruption.

Maselwa, who resigned within the NLC a number of several years in the past, has long been implicated in corruption involving lottery funds. He received R4.3-million from lottery funds allocated to build a library and museum complicated in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Songs and Arts Expo) which he utilized to build a house within an upmarket gated progress in Pretoria. The residence is one of several compensated for with lottery money which were frozen following the Asset Forfeiture Device acquired a preservation order in December 2022.

The politically-linked Nevhutanda, who was appointed because the NLC board chairperson by previous President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was near substantial-ups within the ANC leadership, previous NLC previous Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-Main working officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated from the corruption which overwhelmed the NLC on their look at.

Also implicated are previous board users William Huma, who resigned after he was confronted with evidence of how he had profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, who has considering that died.

Every time a new administration, such as the total board and government, took above on the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they identified a “chaotic mess” inside the documentation referring to proactive funding, A lot of which was paper-centered. Critical documents were being missing. Data files held for safekeeping by document storage company Metrofile had been signed out and never returned.

The NLC was in the position to recover copies of some ruay paperwork from its Mimecast email archiving procedure plus the laptops of their assistants and aid personnel.

Information studies
In his one December 2018 letter, addressed to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has observed with grave concern attainable information safety breaches as well as unauthorised use and/or dissemination of private details received due to accomplishing Formal capabilities in the Commission by NLC workers. The routines are intended to undermine the integrity from the Commission while disrupting the effective capabilities [with the NLC] and triggering insurmountable reputational damage to the Fee since the custodian of personal details entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

His request for that SSA to research was supported within an affidavit by suspended NLC corporation secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.

Nene is at the moment facing a disciplinary inquiry just after she was unsuccessful in legal motion to set aside findings of irregular expenditure on her look at.

The goal of her affidavit, Nene mentioned, was “to history the events which transpired associated with data safety breaches at the Nationwide Lotteries Fee”.

She mentioned a variety of news reviews which she claimed have been the effects of those “breaches” (see at the conclusion of this short article).

Nene mentioned that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that one among its staff members, Sello Qhino, had “furnished her categorized NLC Info and persistently inspired her to supply the data to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle on the number of dodgy lottery-funded tasks in Kuruman following tries to raise The problem internally were being ignored, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an 18 November 2018 short article within the Each day Dispatch about the misappropriation of Lottery money, Nene claimed which the NLC identified and afterwards suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an staff in the NLC’s East London Office environment, who was the partner as well as the mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s a few children.

Rungqu and Makatse believe that Rungqu was punished due to the fact Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and charged internally, Using the NLC investing R470,000 on lawyers to characterize it, but was located not responsible and allowed to return to operate.

“The frequent factor in these articles is the fact that [they contain] labeled facts associated with proactive funding jobs,” Nene claimed in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out from the relatives residence to go ahead and take warmth off her and his young children. Facing homelessness, he moved into an Office environment within an vacant manufacturing facility belonging to a colleague.

Both equally Makatse and Qhino are taking part in an NLC reparation method intended to recognise the hurt a lot of people endured in the palms in the NLC. Apologies and, occasionally, economic payment are anticipated.

“Some persons had been seriously affected really negatively by this … This is admittedly painful,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz advised the Each day Maverick last year.

“I met several these persons. It absolutely was just so coronary heart-wrenching that their complete lives have already been turned the wrong way up,” stated Scholtz.

Among 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 into the media.

“Failure to have a committed anti-corruption channel will result in staff members presenting this sort of conditions outside of the NLC,” the SSA explained in its conclusions.

“Given the magnitude of corruption in state institutions, it stays important that it makes certain that the NLC complies with all stability prescripts Which its aim is on ensuring that unlawful and irregular perform is sufficiently mitigated from and by guaranteeing an enough channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward carry out without having getting intimidated.”

It advised that the NLC create a “Risk-free channel” for employees to offer information on any “untoward exercise” that will not prevent or discourage staff members from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers policy, dependant on the Guarded Disclosures Act twenty five of 2000, is really a prerequisite.”

Media reports Nene detailed
A ten December 2017 report in the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Overall health and Conditioning Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has labored intently with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and operator with the Limpopo Mirror, to show NLC corruption. “The short article experienced things of knowledge not readily available in the public domain, thus increasing problem on internal Info stability breaches. The allegations from the media ended up independently investigated,” Nene mentioned. “Nevertheless, workforce chargeable for divulging categorized information and facts have nevertheless to be recognized”;
A 28 January 2018 posting printed because of the Dally Dispatch “citing numerous allegations through the Limpopo Mirror short article posted on 10 December 2017 along with a new allegation associated with a former worker with the title of Mzukisi Makatse. He was charged and summarily dismissed for your threat brought on towards the organisation.”
A sixteen November 2018 short article from the Lowvelder with regard to the misappropriation of NLC cash involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has noted how, Despite obtaining R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has never been concluded. “The Lowvelder post contained labeled info concerning NLC policy, increasing further worries of interior info protection breaches,” Nene claimed in her affidavit. “The prima facie proof with regards to these allegations didn't warrant an unbiased Investigation, nevertheless [it] highlighted the heightened details safety pitfalls inside the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a couple of dodgy R27.5-million grant to Denzhe Main Treatment, a hijacked NPO. Nene reported GroundUp experienced confirmed in its Tale that it had been determined by leaked NLC documents. This was Regardless of the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Marketing of Usage of Facts) request for aspects with regard to the task, she stated