Lottery bosses turned to Point out Stability Company to analyze leaks

Lottery bosses turned to Point out Stability Company to analyze leaks

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Former Nationwide Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda questioned the Point out Safety Company (SSA) in December 2018 to investigate the leaking of paperwork that uncovered lottery corruption.
The NLC’s organization secretary at enough time listed media stories she reported were determined by “stolen” facts within an affidavit for that SSA.
The SSA did examine. It discovered the information wasn't a subject of state stability and the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “sufficient motive” for the media to reveal it.
A completely new board and management has given that taken over the NLC and To date have taken measures to finish corruption in the institution.
A Point out Stability Agency (SSA) investigation uncovered the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “delivered enough motive” for publicity from the media.

The probe into supposed “facts security breaches and sabotage of NLC operations” was undertaken right after then-NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda wrote to your SSA in December 2018 requesting it to analyze.

Here's

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by presently suspended NLC firm secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the ask for, and
the safety agency’s “confidential” conclusions and proposals.
Nevhutanda requested the SSA to investigate the purpose of NLC workers from the alleged leaking of information, and Nene, in her affidavit discovered specific media and studies that she claimed associated these leaks.

During the letter outlining its results, the SSA explained to the NLC that while guarding point out details was “a lawful imperative aimed toward safeguarding the sovereignty and integrity with the condition” this only applied to appropriately categorized details.

Although it didn't say so right, the SSA conclusions implied the allegedly leaked info did not tumble into this class.

Significantly, the SSA built it apparent that the need to guard state information “isn't going to reduce any personal from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminal activity”.

The SSA investigation discovered that the NLC information and facts involved with the alleged breach was “delicate and privileged in nature, but not categorised with regards to the prescripts of your Minimal Facts Security Criteria (Pass up)”.

“The leakage on the relevant delicate Formal NLC info on the media isn't going to pose a risk to national stability,” the SSA reported, incorporating the influence of the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report uncovered “no evidence of a factual and incriminating mother nature in opposition to any of the suspected NLC workforce that can be identified from the data and knowledge interrogated”.

Furthermore, it mentioned that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities within the NLC and at its beneficiaries does supply enough motive to have these kinds of uncovered in the media”.

Conspiracy claims
In 2020, Nevhutanda advised MPs throughout a session of Parliament’s trade, market and Level of competition portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” in which info “stolen” from your NLC was sent into the US, where by he claimed it absolutely was remaining marketed to fund a smear campaign versus the NLC.

He was repeating very similar statements he had Earlier produced in Parliament, which bundled advertisement hominem assaults on GroundUp which reporter but was mindful not to call either.

“I came here With this August residence last year and described to honourable users that information about our beneficiaries has become stolen and set in one condition in the united states,” he instructed MPs.

“We termed over the Point out Stability Company to come back take a look at the make any difference because we've been finding studies that our details is generating money for media platforms and journalists,” he reported. “There was speak, certainly from one particular resource, a single media, that spoke much about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda mentioned (referring to GroundUp), but didn't inform MPs the SSA investigation had been concluded almost a yr previously.

Proactive funding was at the center on the looting of the lottery. It side-stepped the normal grant approach. The NLC could by itself discover a task to fund and appoint a non-financial gain organisation to oversee it.

Right after Nevhutanda very first informed Parliament in 2018 that he had questioned the SSA to analyze the meant breach, the South African Nationwide Editors Forum issued a statement stating that his remarks mirrored “an extremely dangerous Angle wherever the media is staying blamed to the NLC’s inherent issues”.

“Instead of investigating why tens of millions can't be accounted for, the NLC has instead attempted to Forged doubt to the integrity from the journalists concerned and it has asked the SSA to research their resources.”

Proactive tasks manufactured top secret
Stability flaws identified while in the NLC grant funding system over the SSA’s investigation, appear to are actually used as an justification via the NLC to get rid of all proactive-funded tasks from its central grants system.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all pro-actively funding tasks was heightened to ‘top secret’ and initiatives have been removed from the grant funding technique and preserved manually beneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Information Business, Govt Supervisor Lawful to be able to safeguard [the] info,” Nene reported in her affidavit.

“There was a lot of internal discussion, with lots 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, explained to GroundUp. “Eventually, the decision 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 individuals ended up implicated in corruption.

Maselwa, who resigned from the NLC numerous yrs back, continues to be implicated in corruption involving lottery money. He acquired R4.3-million from lottery money allocated to create a library and museum advanced in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Tunes and Arts Expo) which he applied to develop a household in an upmarket gated advancement in Pretoria. The home is among many paid for with lottery resources that were frozen after the Asset Forfeiture Unit obtained a preservation buy 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 higher-ups from the ANC leadership, former NLC former Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-Main functioning officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated inside the corruption which overcome the NLC on their own watch.

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 may have because died.

Whenever a new administration, including the whole board and executive, took more than in the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they found a “chaotic mess” within the documentation relating to proactive funding, much of which was paper-centered. Critical documents were being missing. Data files held for safekeeping by document storage enterprise Metrofile had been signed out and never returned.

The NLC was in the position to recover copies of some cat888 documents from its Mimecast electronic mail archiving process along with the laptops in their assistants and assist employees.

Information reports
In his one December 2018 letter, dealt with to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has famous with grave issue feasible information and facts security breaches along with the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of private information acquired because of undertaking Formal capabilities during the Fee by NLC workforce. The activities are meant to undermine the integrity of your Fee even though disrupting the powerful functions [from the NLC] and creating insurmountable reputational hurt to your Commission given that the custodian of non-public info entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

His ask for to the SSA to analyze was supported in an affidavit by suspended NLC enterprise secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.

Nene is at the moment facing a disciplinary inquiry immediately after she was unsuccessful in legal action to set aside results of irregular expenditure on her check out.

The purpose of her affidavit, Nene explained, was “to report the events which transpired referring to data protection breaches within the Countrywide Lotteries Fee”.

She shown several information studies which she claimed have been the outcome of these “breaches” (see at the conclusion of this article).

Nene reported that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that considered one of its personnel, Sello Qhino, had “furnished her categorized NLC Information and persistently encouraged her to deliver the knowledge to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle over a number of dodgy lottery-funded assignments in Kuruman just after attempts to boost The problem internally were being dismissed, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an 18 November 2018 report during the Each day Dispatch with regards to the misappropriation of Lottery money, Nene stated which the NLC identified after which you can suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an worker in the NLC’s East London Office environment, who was the companion plus the mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s three little ones.

Rungqu and Makatse believe Rungqu was punished due to the fact Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and billed internally, with the NLC investing R470,000 on lawyers to symbolize it, but was located not guilty and allowed to return to work.

“The common Think about these articles is the fact that [they involve] categorised facts regarding proactive funding tasks,” Nene said in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out of your relatives residence to go ahead and take heat off her and his small children. Going through homelessness, he moved into an office in an empty manufacturing unit belonging to a pal.

Both equally Makatse and Qhino are taking part in an NLC reparation method meant to recognise the hurt some people suffered on the palms with the NLC. Apologies and, occasionally, economical payment are envisioned.

“Some people today were being definitely afflicted incredibly negatively by this … This is de facto unpleasant,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz informed the Every day Maverick past 12 months.

“I met two or three these persons. It was just so coronary heart-wrenching that their entire life happen to be turned the other way up,” stated Scholtz.

Between These she fulfilled were being Qhino and Makatse.

Protected System desired for whistleblowers
The SSA discovered the absence at time of a suitable channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn into the media.

“Failure to possess a committed anti-corruption channel will end in personnel presenting this kind of conditions outside of the NLC,” the SSA reported in its results.

“Supplied the magnitude of corruption in state establishments, it remains very important that it makes sure that the NLC complies with all stability prescripts and that its concentration is on making sure that unlawful and irregular perform is sufficiently mitigated against and by guaranteeing an sufficient channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward conduct devoid of remaining intimidated.”

It encouraged that the NLC create a “Protected channel” for workers to supply information on any “untoward exercise” that might not avert or discourage employees from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers policy, determined by the Safeguarded Disclosures Act twenty five of 2000, is really a need.”

Media reports Nene listed
A ten December 2017 report inside the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Wellness and Physical fitness Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has worked carefully with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and proprietor from the Limpopo Mirror, to show NLC corruption. “The write-up had aspects of knowledge not out there in the general public domain, thus elevating worry on inner Data security breaches. The allegations from the media had been independently investigated,” Nene claimed. “Nonetheless, workforce answerable for divulging categorized info have nonetheless to get discovered”;
A 28 January 2018 posting published because of the Dally Dispatch “citing quite a few allegations through the Limpopo Mirror write-up printed on 10 December 2017 and also a new allegation referring to a former worker with the title of Mzukisi Makatse. He was charged and summarily dismissed to the risk triggered for the organisation.”
A 16 November 2018 article during the Lowvelder concerning the misappropriation of NLC resources involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has described how, in spite of acquiring R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has not been finished. “The Lowvelder article contained labeled data with regards to NLC policy, elevating even more considerations of interior facts security breaches,” Nene claimed in her affidavit. “The prima facie evidence with regard to these allegations didn't warrant an unbiased Investigation, nonetheless [it] highlighted the heightened data protection threats throughout the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a few dodgy R27.five-million grant to Denzhe Most important Treatment, a hijacked NPO. Nene said GroundUp experienced confirmed in its story that it absolutely was according to leaked NLC files. This was despite the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Promotion of Usage of Data) request for aspects about the job, she explained