Former National Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda questioned the Point out Protection Agency (SSA) in December 2018 to analyze the leaking of documents that uncovered lottery corruption.
The NLC’s enterprise secretary at time listed media experiences she explained were according to “stolen” information and facts in an affidavit for that SSA.
The SSA did look into. It discovered the knowledge wasn't a make any difference of state safety and that the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “sufficient motive” to the media to reveal it.
A completely new board and administration has because taken more than the NLC and So far have taken measures to finish corruption within the establishment.
A State Security Company (SSA) investigation located that the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “provided enough motive” for exposure by the media.
The probe into intended “info stability breaches and sabotage of NLC operations” was carried out 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 firm secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the ask for, and
the safety company’s “confidential” findings and suggestions.
Nevhutanda requested the SSA to research the job of NLC staff inside the alleged leaking of knowledge, and Nene, in her affidavit recognized distinct media and stories that she claimed included these leaks.
While in the letter outlining its results, the SSA informed the NLC that whilst guarding point out information and facts was “a authorized essential aimed at preserving the sovereignty and integrity on the state” this only applied to appropriately labeled info.
Although it did not say so instantly, the SSA findings implied the allegedly leaked data didn't drop into this group.
Substantially, the SSA manufactured it apparent that the need to guard point out data “isn't going to stop any individual from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or illegal activity”.
The SSA investigation identified that the NLC facts linked to the alleged breach was “delicate and privileged in mother nature, but not categorised with regards to the prescripts in the Minimal Data Safety Standards (Miss out on)”.
“The leakage of your relevant delicate official NLC information for the media doesn't pose a menace to countrywide safety,” the SSA mentioned, including that the impression in the breaches was reputational.
The SSA report uncovered “no evidence of a factual and incriminating mother nature versus any from the suspected NLC personnel that would be identified from the information and info interrogated”.
It also mentioned that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities throughout the NLC and at its beneficiaries does provide enough motive to acquire these types of uncovered while in the media”.
Conspiracy claims
In 2020, Nevhutanda told MPs throughout a session of Parliament’s trade, business and Competitors portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” in which information and facts “stolen” within the NLC was sent towards the US, exactly where he claimed it had been remaining bought to fund a smear campaign towards the NLC.
He was repeating related promises he experienced Beforehand made in Parliament, which integrated advert hominem attacks on GroundUp and this reporter but was very careful not to call possibly.
“I arrived here In this particular August property previous 12 months and claimed to honourable users that specifics of our beneficiaries continues to be stolen and set in a single state in the usa,” he instructed MPs.
“We named over the Condition Stability Agency to return investigate the matter for the reason that we're having studies that our info is making revenue for media platforms and journalists,” he mentioned. “There was talk, not surprisingly from one source, 1 media, that spoke much about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda stated (referring to GroundUp), but failed to explain to MPs that the SSA investigation were done Nearly a yr before.
Proactive funding was at the guts of the looting from the lottery. It facet-stepped the traditional grant system. The NLC could alone discover a venture to fund and appoint a non-profit organisation to oversee it.
After Nevhutanda to start with instructed Parliament in 2018 that he experienced asked the SSA to research the meant breach, the South African National Editors Forum issued a press release indicating that his remarks reflected “an especially dangerous Perspective wherever the media is staying blamed for that NLC’s inherent troubles”.
“As an alternative to investigating why hundreds of thousands cannot be accounted for, the NLC has in its place attempted to cast question over the integrity with the journalists concerned and it has requested the SSA to investigate their sources.”
Proactive projects designed magic formula
Safety flaws determined within the NLC grant funding technique in the SSA’s investigation, appear to are already made use of being an justification through the NLC to eliminate all proactive-funded projects from its central grants technique.
“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all Professional-actively funding jobs was heightened to ‘top secret’ and assignments had been faraway from the grant funding procedure and maintained manually under the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Information and facts Office, Government Supervisor Legal so as to safeguard [the] information and facts,” Nene stated in her affidavit.
“There was lots of internal dialogue, with a great deal of backwards and forwards, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a resource, who was in a very senior place for the NLC at the time, advised GroundUp. “Ultimately, the choice was taken to remove many of the proactive projects with the technique and Restrict usage of A few folks”.
Some in that handful of people have been implicated in corruption.
Maselwa, who resigned through the NLC many a long time back, has long been implicated in corruption involving lottery funds. He obtained R4.3-million from lottery funds allocated to create a library and museum intricate in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Audio and Arts Expo) which he employed to develop a property in an upmarket gated advancement in Pretoria. The property is among many paid for with lottery cash which were frozen after the Asset Forfeiture Device received a preservation purchase in December 2022.
The politically-connected Nevhutanda, who was appointed as the NLC board chairperson by previous President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was close to substantial-ups inside the ANC leadership, former NLC previous Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-Main functioning officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated during the corruption which overcome the NLC on their observe.
Also implicated are former board users William Huma, who resigned after he was confronted with proof of how he had profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, that has considering that died.
Every time a new administration, including the full board and government, took above at the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they learned a “chaotic mess” while in the documentation relating to proactive funding, Substantially of which was paper-primarily based. Essential files were missing. Files held for safekeeping by document storage corporation Metrofile were signed out and never returned.
The NLC was in a position to recover copies of some หวย วัน นี้ documents from its Mimecast e-mail archiving procedure and also the laptops of their assistants and help staff members.
Information stories
In his one December 2018 letter, tackled to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has famous with grave problem achievable details security breaches and also the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of private facts acquired as a result of accomplishing official capabilities while in the Commission by NLC workforce. The functions are intended to undermine the integrity of your Commission though disrupting the powerful capabilities [in the NLC] and producing insurmountable reputational harm for the Fee as being the custodian of private information entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”
His request for the SSA to investigate was supported in an affidavit by suspended NLC business secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.
Nene is at the moment experiencing a disciplinary inquiry immediately after she was unsuccessful in authorized action to put aside conclusions of irregular expenditure on her look at.
The goal of her affidavit, Nene explained, was “to file the activities which transpired relating to information protection breaches with the National Lotteries Fee”.
She detailed various information reviews which she claimed had been the results of those “breaches” (see at the conclusion of this text).
Nene mentioned that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that one of its staff, Sello Qhino, had “presented her categorised NLC Information and persistently encouraged her to provide the information to GroundUp”.
Qhino, who blew the whistle on a number of dodgy lottery-funded jobs in Kuruman after attempts to lift The problem internally ended up dismissed, was subsequently fired.
Referring to an 18 November 2018 article during the Each day Dispatch with regards to the misappropriation of Lottery cash, Nene mentioned which the NLC recognized and then suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an personnel inside the NLC’s East London office, who was the associate and the mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s 3 small children.
Rungqu and Makatse think Rungqu was punished mainly because Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and billed internally, While using the NLC paying R470,000 on lawyers to depict it, but was observed not guilty and allowed to return to operate.
“The prevalent Consider these articles or blog posts is always that [they include] categorised facts associated with proactive funding tasks,” Nene reported in her affidavit.
When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out on the family members dwelling to take the heat off her and his small children. Going through homelessness, he moved into an Business in an empty manufacturing unit belonging to a pal.
Equally Makatse and Qhino are taking part in an NLC reparation system intended to recognise the harm a lot of people experienced within the hands with the NLC. Apologies and, sometimes, economical payment are envisioned.
“Some folks have been seriously influenced really negatively by this … This is de facto unpleasant,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz informed the Daily Maverick very last yr.
“I achieved a handful of these persons. It was just so coronary heart-wrenching that their whole lives happen to be turned the wrong way up,” stated Scholtz.
Between those she satisfied ended up Qhino and Makatse.
Safe platform necessary for whistleblowers
The SSA uncovered the absence at the time of a proper channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to show into the media.
“Failure to possess a focused anti-corruption channel will end in employees presenting these kinds of scenarios beyond the NLC,” the SSA claimed in its results.
“Offered the magnitude of corruption in point out institutions, it remains essential that it makes certain that the NLC complies with all stability prescripts Which its emphasis is on ensuring that unlawful and irregular conduct is sufficiently mitigated in opposition to and by making sure an ample channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward conduct without the need of getting intimidated.”
It recommended that the NLC create a “Harmless channel” for workers to provide information on any “untoward action” that would not protect against or discourage workers from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers policy, determined by the Shielded Disclosures Act twenty five of 2000, is a requirement.”
Media reviews Nene shown
A 10 December 2017 report in the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Health and Fitness Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has worked intently with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and proprietor on the Limpopo Mirror, to expose NLC corruption. “The article experienced elements of data not available in the public domain, thus boosting concern on inside Details protection breaches. The allegations inside the media were being independently investigated,” Nene stated. “On the other hand, workers to blame for divulging categorised info have but to get determined”;
A 28 January 2018 report revealed with the Dally Dispatch “citing quite a few allegations from your Limpopo Mirror post published on ten December 2017 plus a new allegation referring to a previous personnel through the name of Mzukisi Makatse. He was billed and summarily dismissed to the danger brought about for the organisation.”
A sixteen November 2018 posting while in the Lowvelder in regards to the misappropriation of NLC resources involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has noted how, in spite of obtaining R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab hasn't been completed. “The Lowvelder post contained labeled information regarding NLC plan, increasing further considerations of inside info security breaches,” Nene claimed in her affidavit. “The prima facie evidence with regards to these allegations did not warrant an independent Investigation, nonetheless [it] highlighted the heightened info stability threats inside the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a few dodgy R27.5-million grant to Denzhe Key Care, a hijacked NPO. Nene reported GroundUp had verified in its Tale that it was dependant on leaked NLC documents. This was despite the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Marketing of Usage of Data) ask for for specifics in regards to the venture, she explained
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