Lottery bosses turned to Condition Security Agency to investigate leaks

Lottery bosses turned to Condition Security Agency to investigate leaks

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Previous National Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda requested the Condition Safety Agency (SSA) in December 2018 to research the leaking of files that exposed lottery corruption.
The NLC’s organization secretary at enough time stated media studies she mentioned were being according to “stolen” info within an affidavit for that SSA.
The SSA did examine. It identified the information wasn't a subject of state safety and the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “sufficient motive” for that media to show it.
A fresh board and administration has since taken above the NLC and Up to now have taken actions to finish corruption in the institution.
A Point out Protection Company (SSA) investigation located that the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “offered ample motive” for publicity because of the media.

The probe into intended “data safety breaches and sabotage of NLC functions” was carried out just after then-NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda wrote to your SSA in December 2018 requesting it to research.

Here's

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by at present suspended NLC company secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the request, and
the safety company’s “private” conclusions and proposals.
Nevhutanda requested the SSA to research the purpose of NLC team during the alleged leaking of data, and Nene, in her affidavit determined distinct media and reviews that she claimed involved these leaks.

In the letter outlining its results, the SSA advised the NLC that whilst protecting condition info was “a authorized crucial targeted at defending the sovereignty and integrity of your state” this only applied to properly categorised info.

Although it did not say so instantly, the SSA findings implied that the allegedly leaked details did not drop into this class.

Noticeably, the SSA made it distinct that the need to protect point out information “would not reduce any unique from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminality”.

The SSA investigation located that the NLC information involved with the alleged breach was “sensitive and privileged in mother nature, but not labeled regarding the prescripts from the Least Details Stability Specifications (Pass up)”.

“The leakage from the appropriate delicate Formal NLC info on the media would not pose a danger to countrywide security,” the SSA stated, including that the effect in the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report located “no evidence of a factual and incriminating mother nature versus any with the suspected NLC staff members that would be recognized from the information and details interrogated”.

It also said that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities within the NLC and at its beneficiaries does deliver ample motive to obtain these kinds of uncovered inside the media”.

Conspiracy promises
In 2020, Nevhutanda informed MPs all through a session of Parliament’s trade, business and Level of competition portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” by which data “stolen” within the NLC was despatched to the US, exactly where he claimed it was becoming sold to fund a smear marketing campaign against the NLC.

He was repeating similar promises he experienced Formerly produced in Parliament, which included advert hominem attacks on GroundUp which reporter but was thorough not to name possibly.

“I arrived below With this August residence last 12 months and described to honourable members that specifics of our beneficiaries has actually been stolen and place in one state in the united states,” he informed MPs.

“We called over the State Stability Company to come back check into the make a difference because we've been acquiring reports that our data is producing dollars for media platforms and journalists,” he claimed. “There's been talk, naturally from 1 supply, just one media, that spoke Substantially about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda stated (referring to GroundUp), but failed to tell MPs that the SSA investigation were done Pretty much a 12 months previously.

Proactive funding was at the heart from the looting on the lottery. It side-stepped the traditional grant system. The NLC could by itself detect a undertaking to fund and appoint a non-gain organisation to oversee it.

Soon after Nevhutanda to start with informed Parliament in 2018 that he had asked the SSA to research the intended breach, the South African Nationwide Editors Forum issued a statement stating that his remarks reflected “a particularly harmful Perspective in which the media is getting blamed for your NLC’s inherent issues”.

“As opposed to investigating why hundreds of thousands can not be accounted for, the NLC has as a substitute tried to Forged doubt to the integrity in the journalists associated and has requested the SSA to analyze their resources.”

Proactive assignments built key
Protection flaws discovered within the NLC grant funding process during the SSA’s investigation, seem to are already made use of being an justification because of the NLC to eliminate all proactive-funded initiatives from its central grants process.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all Professional-actively funding assignments was heightened to ‘mystery’ and tasks had been faraway from the grant funding process and taken care of manually under the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Information and facts Office environment, Executive Supervisor Lawful so as to safeguard [the] details,” Nene reported in her affidavit.

“There was a great deal of interior discussion, with a great deal of forwards and backwards, about what to do to plug the alleged leaks”, a source, who was in the senior situation at the NLC at the time, advised GroundUp. “In the long run, the decision was taken to get rid of every one of the proactive initiatives within the procedure and Restrict use of a handful of individuals”.

Some in that handful of people were implicated in corruption.

Maselwa, who resigned within the NLC quite a few yrs ago, has been implicated in corruption involving lottery cash. He acquired R4.three-million from lottery money allotted to construct a library and museum complex in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Audio and Arts Expo) which he used to create a house in an upmarket gated progress in Pretoria. The assets is one of numerous paid out for with lottery cash which were frozen once the Asset Forfeiture Device received a preservation get in December 2022.

The politically-related Nevhutanda, who was appointed given that the NLC board chairperson by previous President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was near to significant-ups from the ANC Management, former NLC former Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-chief running officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated in the corruption which overwhelmed the NLC on their observe.

Also implicated are former board associates William Huma, who resigned immediately after he was confronted with proof of how he experienced profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, who's got due to the fact died.

Every time a new administration, including the complete board and executive, took over at the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they found out a “chaotic mess” from the documentation regarding proactive funding, Significantly of which was paper-primarily based. Vital documents were being missing. Documents held for safekeeping by document storage firm Metrofile were signed out and never ever returned.

The NLC was able to Recuperate copies of some ltpbet files from its Mimecast e mail archiving program and also the laptops in their assistants and assistance staff.

News experiences
In his 1 December 2018 letter, resolved to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has mentioned with grave worry possible data stability breaches and also the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of confidential facts attained as a result of executing official functions inside the Commission by NLC personnel. The things to do are meant to undermine the integrity in the Fee although disrupting the effective features [of the NLC] and triggering insurmountable reputational hurt to the Commission since the custodian of private info entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

His ask for for 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 after she was unsuccessful in lawful motion to put aside results of irregular expenditure on her look at.

The objective of her affidavit, Nene explained, was “to file the gatherings which transpired concerning facts stability breaches in the National Lotteries Commission”.

She detailed a variety of news reports which she claimed ended up the outcome of these “breaches” (see at the conclusion of this text).

Nene mentioned that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that one of its employees, Sello Qhino, had “offered her labeled NLC Information and persistently encouraged her to deliver the information to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle on the series of dodgy lottery-funded tasks in Kuruman after attempts to raise The difficulty internally were being dismissed, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an 18 November 2018 write-up while in the Each day Dispatch regarding the misappropriation of Lottery money, Nene explained which the NLC discovered and then suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an personnel inside the NLC’s East London Workplace, who was the husband or wife plus the mom of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s three small children.

Rungqu and Makatse imagine Rungqu was punished simply because Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and charged internally, Along with the NLC spending R470,000 on lawyers to symbolize it, but was located not responsible and permitted to return to operate.

“The prevalent Consider these content is the fact [they require] labeled data associated with proactive funding assignments,” Nene explained in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out on the family members household to take the warmth off her and his kids. Struggling with homelessness, he moved into an Business office within an empty manufacturing facility belonging to a friend.

The two Makatse and Qhino are taking part in an NLC reparation process meant to recognise the harm a lot of people experienced within the hands from the NLC. Apologies and, in some instances, fiscal compensation are anticipated.

“Some folks had been truly afflicted incredibly negatively by this … This is de facto agonizing,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz told the Day by day Maverick previous year.

“I fulfilled a number of these individuals. It had been just so coronary heart-wrenching that their whole lives have been turned the wrong way up,” reported Scholtz.

Amongst All those she achieved were Qhino and Makatse.

Safe and sound platform necessary for whistleblowers
The SSA located the absence at enough time of a suitable channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to show on the media.

“Failure to possess a committed anti-corruption channel will end in workforce presenting these types of cases beyond the NLC,” the SSA explained in its findings.

“Offered the magnitude of corruption in point out institutions, it continues to be important that it makes sure that the NLC complies with all security prescripts and that its concentrate is on guaranteeing that illegal and irregular carry out is sufficiently mitigated in opposition to and by making sure an satisfactory channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward perform without having remaining intimidated.”

It advised the NLC build a “Secure channel” for workers to deliver info on any “untoward exercise” that may not stop or discourage staff from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers policy, depending on the Safeguarded Disclosures Act 25 of 2000, is really a requirement.”

Media reports Nene listed
A ten December 2017 report while in the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Overall health and Physical fitness Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has labored carefully with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and operator in the Limpopo Mirror, to show NLC corruption. “The write-up experienced components of knowledge not available in the public area, thus boosting concern on inner Facts stability breaches. The allegations within the media have been independently investigated,” Nene claimed. “However, workers to blame for divulging labeled facts have still being determined”;
A 28 January 2018 report printed through the Dally Dispatch “citing several allegations from the Limpopo Mirror posting revealed on ten December 2017 plus a new allegation referring to a previous worker via the name of Mzukisi Makatse. He was charged and summarily dismissed with the threat brought about towards the organisation.”
A 16 November 2018 report in the Lowvelder with regards to the misappropriation of NLC resources involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has noted how, in spite of getting R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has never been finished. “The Lowvelder write-up contained categorized details regarding NLC plan, boosting even further worries of inner info stability breaches,” Nene claimed in her affidavit. “The prima facie evidence with regards to these allegations did not warrant an impartial Investigation, nonetheless [it] highlighted the heightened information protection risks inside the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a few dodgy R27.five-million grant to Denzhe Main Care, a hijacked NPO. Nene reported GroundUp had confirmed in its story that it had been dependant on leaked NLC documents. This was despite the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Promotion of Entry to Data) request for information about the venture, she mentioned

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