Lottery bosses turned to State Stability Company to analyze leaks

Lottery bosses turned to State Stability Company to analyze leaks

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Former Countrywide Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda asked the State Safety Agency (SSA) in December 2018 to research the leaking of files that uncovered lottery corruption.
The NLC’s corporation secretary at the time detailed media stories she said have been based on “stolen” info in an affidavit for your SSA.
The SSA did investigate. It identified the knowledge was not a subject of condition protection and the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “enough motive” for the media to show it.
A brand new board and management has given that taken over the NLC and Up to now have taken actions to finish corruption in the establishment.
A State Safety Agency (SSA) investigation uncovered that the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “presented sufficient motive” for publicity by the media.

The probe into supposed “details protection 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 research.

Here is

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by presently suspended NLC organization secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the ask for, and
the safety agency’s “private” results and recommendations.
Nevhutanda questioned the SSA to research the function of NLC staff during the alleged leaking of information, and Nene, in her affidavit discovered certain media and reviews that she claimed involved these leaks.

During the letter outlining its results, the SSA told the NLC that even though guarding point out facts was “a lawful critical aimed at defending the sovereignty and integrity of your point out” this only applied to appropriately labeled information.

Although it didn't say so directly, the SSA findings implied that the allegedly leaked data did not fall into this classification.

Substantially, the SSA made it crystal clear that the need to defend condition information and facts “does not prevent any personal from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminality”.

The SSA investigation observed the NLC information and facts linked to the alleged breach was “sensitive and privileged in mother nature, although not labeled in terms of the prescripts in the Minimum amount Facts Stability Standards (Skip)”.

“The leakage with the applicable delicate official NLC facts on the media isn't going to pose a danger to national security,” the SSA explained, introducing that the affect with the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report uncovered “no evidence of a factual and incriminating nature versus any on the suspected NLC staff that may be recognized from the knowledge and facts interrogated”.

Additionally, it mentioned that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities inside the NLC and at its beneficiaries does provide sufficient motive to get this sort of uncovered in the media”.

Conspiracy statements
In 2020, Nevhutanda told MPs for the duration of a session of Parliament’s trade, business and Level of competition portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” by which details “stolen” with the NLC was despatched into the US, where he claimed it was being bought to fund a smear marketing campaign in opposition to the NLC.

He was repeating related claims he experienced previously built in Parliament, which bundled ad hominem assaults on GroundUp which reporter but was very careful not to call possibly.

“I came here in this August property final year and noted to honourable customers that details about our beneficiaries has become stolen and put in a single condition in America,” he instructed MPs.

“We referred to as on the Condition Security Agency to return take a look at the make any difference mainly because we're finding reviews that our data is generating funds for media platforms and journalists,” he explained. “There was chat, not surprisingly from just one supply, 1 media, that spoke A lot about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda reported (referring to GroundUp), but failed to convey to MPs that the SSA investigation had been concluded Nearly a 12 months before.

Proactive funding was at the guts from the looting on the lottery. It facet-stepped the traditional grant procedure. The NLC could itself establish a venture to fund and appoint a non-earnings organisation to oversee it.

Just after Nevhutanda initially instructed Parliament in 2018 that he experienced requested the SSA to investigate the meant breach, the South African Countrywide Editors Forum issued a statement indicating that his remarks reflected “a particularly dangerous Angle the place the media is getting blamed with the NLC’s inherent troubles”.

“As opposed to investigating why millions cannot be accounted for, the NLC has alternatively made an effort to cast doubt about the integrity with the journalists associated and it has requested the SSA to research their sources.”

Proactive assignments designed secret
Security flaws identified within the NLC grant funding system throughout the SSA’s investigation, appear to have been made use of as an justification because of 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 Professional-actively funding initiatives was heightened to ‘key’ and projects were being removed from the grant funding process and maintained manually under the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Information and facts Business office, Govt Supervisor Lawful in order to safeguard [the] data,” Nene claimed in her affidavit.

“There was a lot of interior dialogue, with a great deal of backwards and forwards, about what to do to plug the alleged leaks”, a resource, who was in a very senior placement in the NLC at some time, instructed GroundUp. “Ultimately, the choice was taken to remove the many proactive tasks from the technique and Restrict access to a handful of individuals”.

Some in that handful of men and women had been implicated in corruption.

Maselwa, who resigned with the NLC quite a few many years in the past, has actually been implicated in corruption involving lottery cash. He been given R4.three-million from lottery cash allotted to create a library and museum intricate in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Tunes and Arts Expo) which he utilised to develop a property in an upmarket gated improvement in Pretoria. The assets is among numerous compensated for with lottery cash that were frozen following the Asset Forfeiture Unit received 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 in the ANC leadership, previous NLC previous Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-Main operating officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated from the corruption which confused the NLC on their own observe.

Also implicated are former board customers William Huma, who resigned just after he was confronted with proof of how he experienced profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, who may have because died.

Each time a new administration, including the whole board and executive, took more than at the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they discovered a “chaotic mess” in the documentation relating to proactive funding, A great deal of which was paper-dependent. Essential documents ended up missing. Data files held for safekeeping by document storage enterprise Metrofile had been signed out and hardly ever returned.

The NLC was capable to Get better copies of some ruay paperwork from its Mimecast email archiving procedure plus the laptops of their assistants and aid staff members.

News stories
In his 1 December 2018 letter, tackled to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has pointed out with grave problem probable details protection breaches and also the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of confidential facts attained as a result of executing official features while in the Commission by NLC personnel. The functions are meant to undermine the integrity with the Fee even though disrupting the powerful features [of the NLC] and leading to insurmountable reputational harm towards the Commission given that the custodian of private information entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

His request for your SSA to investigate was supported within an affidavit by suspended NLC company secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.

Nene is now facing a disciplinary inquiry after she was unsuccessful in lawful action to put aside findings of irregular expenditure on her view.

The goal of her affidavit, Nene mentioned, was “to document the events which transpired regarding facts safety breaches in the National Lotteries Fee”.

She stated many news stories which she claimed were being the outcomes of these “breaches” (see at the conclusion of this short article).

Nene claimed that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that amongst its workforce, Sello Qhino, experienced “offered her classified NLC Information and facts and persistently encouraged her to deliver the knowledge to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle with a series of dodgy lottery-funded initiatives in Kuruman right after tries to raise The problem internally ended up ignored, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an eighteen November 2018 article inside the Each day Dispatch in regards to the misappropriation of Lottery resources, Nene stated which the NLC recognized and then suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an worker while in the NLC’s East London Business, who was the companion as well as the mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s a few small children.

Rungqu and Makatse consider Rungqu was punished for the reason that Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and charged internally, With all the NLC investing R470,000 on legal professionals to characterize it, but was observed not guilty and permitted to return to work.

“The popular Think about these content is always that [they involve] labeled info concerning proactive funding assignments,” Nene reported in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out from the relatives home to take the heat off her and his kids. Experiencing homelessness, he moved into an Business within an vacant manufacturing facility belonging to a colleague.

Both equally Makatse and Qhino are taking part in an NLC reparation system intended to recognise the harm many people suffered at the hands of your NLC. Apologies and, sometimes, economic payment are expected.

“Some persons were genuinely afflicted extremely negatively by this … This is absolutely distressing,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz explained to the Every day Maverick final yr.

“I satisfied a handful of these persons. It absolutely was just so coronary heart-wrenching that their complete lives happen to be turned upside down,” reported Scholtz.

Among the All those she satisfied had been Qhino and Makatse.

Safe System required for whistleblowers
The SSA found the absence at enough time of a proper channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn to the media.

“Failure to have a focused anti-corruption channel will lead to workforce presenting this sort of conditions outside of the NLC,” the SSA mentioned in its results.

“Specified the magnitude of corruption in state institutions, it remains vital that it makes sure that the NLC complies with all protection prescripts and that its emphasis is on guaranteeing that illegal and irregular conduct is sufficiently mitigated versus and by making sure an enough channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward carry out with no getting intimidated.”

It suggested which the NLC create a “Protected channel” for workers to supply info on any “untoward action” that may not protect against or discourage workers from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers plan, according to the Secured Disclosures Act twenty five of 2000, is actually a prerequisite.”

Media reports Nene detailed
A 10 December 2017 report from the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Well being and Physical fitness Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has worked carefully with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and owner in the Limpopo Mirror, to expose NLC corruption. “The write-up had elements of data not available in the general public domain, thereby boosting worry on inner Info stability breaches. The allegations from the media had been independently investigated,” Nene said. “Having said that, personnel accountable for divulging labeled info have still to become determined”;
A 28 January 2018 article printed because of the Dally Dispatch “citing numerous allegations from your Limpopo Mirror short article posted on ten December 2017 and a new allegation relating to a previous staff via the identify of Mzukisi Makatse. He was billed and summarily dismissed to the risk brought on towards the organisation.”
A sixteen November 2018 short article while in the Lowvelder with regards to the misappropriation of NLC money involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has reported how, Regardless of receiving R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has not been completed. “The Lowvelder short article contained classified facts with regards to NLC coverage, boosting additional problems of interior details safety breaches,” Nene claimed in her affidavit. “The prima facie proof with regards to these allegations didn't warrant an unbiased 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 Principal Care, a hijacked NPO. Nene stated GroundUp experienced confirmed in its story that it absolutely was determined by leaked NLC documents. This was Regardless of the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Marketing of Access to Facts) request for aspects with regards to the undertaking, she said