Lottery bosses turned to State Security Agency to investigate leaks

Lottery bosses turned to State Security Agency to investigate leaks

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Previous National Lotteries Fee (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda asked the State Safety Agency (SSA) in December 2018 to research the leaking of paperwork that exposed lottery corruption.
The NLC’s enterprise secretary at some time listed media reviews she stated had been determined by “stolen” data in an affidavit with the SSA.
The SSA did examine. It identified the information wasn't a make a difference of point out safety and which the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “ample motive” with the media to expose it.
A new board and management has since taken in excess of the NLC and thus far have taken measures to end corruption for the establishment.
A Point out Security Agency (SSA) investigation identified the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “furnished enough motive” for publicity via the media.

The probe into meant “information and facts stability 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's

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by presently suspended NLC corporation secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the request, and
the security company’s “private” conclusions and proposals.
Nevhutanda asked the SSA to investigate the part of NLC employees during the alleged leaking of knowledge, and Nene, in her affidavit recognized certain media and studies that she claimed concerned these leaks.

Inside the letter outlining its findings, the SSA explained to the NLC that whilst guarding state information was “a authorized vital targeted at protecting the sovereignty and integrity in the point out” this only applied to properly categorised facts.

Although it did not say so specifically, the SSA conclusions implied which the allegedly leaked info did not fall into this category.

Appreciably, the SSA produced it obvious that the necessity to guard condition data “would not reduce any unique from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminality”.

The SSA investigation observed that the NLC facts linked to the alleged breach was “sensitive and privileged in nature, but not categorized in terms of the prescripts from the Bare minimum Facts Protection Benchmarks (Pass up)”.

“The leakage of your relevant delicate official NLC details for the media doesn't pose a danger to nationwide security,” the SSA said, incorporating that the effects on the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report discovered “no proof of a factual and incriminating character against any on the suspected NLC workers which could be recognized from the knowledge and details interrogated”.

Furthermore, it mentioned that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities throughout the NLC and at its beneficiaries does offer ample motive to get these uncovered from the media”.

Conspiracy promises
In 2020, Nevhutanda instructed MPs all through a session of Parliament’s trade, field and Competitors portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” in which information “stolen” with the NLC was sent towards the US, where by he claimed it had been becoming marketed to fund a smear campaign from the NLC.

He was repeating comparable promises he experienced Formerly built in Parliament, which incorporated advertisement hominem assaults on GroundUp which reporter but was cautious not to name both.

“I arrived in this article Within this August residence very last 12 months and claimed to honourable users that information about our beneficiaries continues to be stolen and put in one point out in the usa,” he instructed MPs.

“We named about the State Security Company to come look into the make any difference for the reason that we're obtaining stories that our details is generating income for media platforms and journalists,” he stated. “There was speak, not surprisingly from 1 supply, a person media, that spoke A lot about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda explained (referring to GroundUp), but didn't convey to MPs which the SSA investigation were completed Nearly a yr earlier.

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

Immediately after Nevhutanda 1st informed Parliament in 2018 that he experienced requested the SSA to research the supposed breach, the South African Countrywide Editors Forum issued a statement indicating that his remarks mirrored “an especially harmful attitude wherever the media is remaining blamed for your NLC’s inherent difficulties”.

“In lieu of investigating why millions can't be accounted for, the NLC has alternatively attempted to Solid question on the integrity with the journalists involved and has asked the SSA to investigate their sources.”

Proactive assignments built magic formula
Safety flaws identified from the NLC grant funding method through the SSA’s investigation, surface to happen to be used being an justification from the NLC to eliminate all proactive-funded jobs from its central grants process.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all Professional-actively funding tasks was heightened to ‘secret’ and tasks have been removed from the grant funding program and taken care of manually underneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Info Office environment, Government Supervisor Authorized so that you can safeguard [the] information,” Nene said in her affidavit.

“There was lots of inside discussion, with a great deal of backwards and forwards, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a source, who was inside of a senior posture with the NLC at the time, advised GroundUp. “Eventually, the choice was taken to get rid of every one of the proactive jobs in the process and Restrict usage of a handful of individuals”.

Some in that handful of people were being implicated in corruption.

Maselwa, who resigned within the NLC many many years back, is implicated in corruption involving lottery resources. He obtained R4.3-million from lottery cash allotted to make a library and museum complex in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Songs and Arts Expo) which he utilised to develop a household in an upmarket gated advancement in Pretoria. The house is one of several compensated for with lottery cash that were frozen once the Asset Forfeiture Unit attained a preservation buy in December 2022.

The politically-connected Nevhutanda, who was appointed because the NLC board chairperson by previous President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was close to high-ups from the ANC leadership, former NLC previous Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-chief functioning officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated while in the corruption which confused the NLC on their look at.

Also implicated are previous board users William Huma, who resigned right after he was confronted with proof of how he experienced profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, who may have considering that died.

When a new administration, including the whole board and government, took about for the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they learned a “chaotic mess” during the documentation concerning proactive funding, much of which was paper-based. Vital paperwork were lacking. Information held for safekeeping by doc storage enterprise Metrofile had been signed out and never returned.

The NLC was able to Recuperate copies of some เช ค หวย documents from its Mimecast electronic mail archiving procedure plus the laptops of their assistants and support staff members.

News stories
In his 1 December 2018 letter, resolved to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has noted with grave worry feasible facts security breaches along with the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of private information acquired due to accomplishing Formal capabilities within the Commission by NLC personnel. The things to do are meant to undermine the integrity from the Commission although disrupting the productive features [on the NLC] and triggering insurmountable reputational harm for the Commission given that the custodian of non-public data entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

His request with the SSA to research was supported in an affidavit by suspended NLC corporation secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.

Nene is at present facing a disciplinary inquiry just after she was unsuccessful in authorized motion to set aside results of irregular expenditure on her view.

The goal of her affidavit, Nene explained, was “to history the gatherings which transpired referring to data stability breaches at the National Lotteries Commission”.

She shown various news reviews which she claimed have been the effects of those “breaches” (see at the end of this information).

Nene said that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that certainly one of its workers, Sello Qhino, experienced “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 just after makes an attempt to lift The problem internally were being dismissed, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an 18 November 2018 posting inside the Each day Dispatch regarding the misappropriation of Lottery cash, Nene claimed which the NLC determined and then suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an staff in the NLC’s East London Workplace, who was the companion as well as the mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s three youngsters.

Rungqu and Makatse imagine Rungqu was punished due to the fact Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and charged internally, Using the NLC spending R470,000 on attorneys to represent it, but was observed not responsible and allowed to return to work.

“The popular factor in these content is the fact that [they require] categorised details regarding proactive funding jobs,” Nene stated in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out in the relatives dwelling to go ahead and take warmth off her and his little ones. Experiencing homelessness, he moved into an Office environment within an empty manufacturing unit belonging to an acquaintance.

Both of those Makatse and Qhino are taking part in an NLC reparation procedure meant to recognise the damage a lot of people suffered at the palms in the NLC. Apologies and, occasionally, money compensation are envisioned.

“Some people today have been truly afflicted really negatively by this … This is actually distressing,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz advised the Each day Maverick final yr.

“I achieved a number of these persons. It absolutely was just so coronary heart-wrenching that their complete life are actually turned the other way up,” said Scholtz.

Among those she met had been Qhino and Makatse.

Risk-free platform needed for whistleblowers
The SSA identified the absence at the time of an appropriate channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to show on the media.

“Failure to have a committed anti-corruption channel will cause workers presenting this kind of cases beyond the NLC,” the SSA mentioned in its conclusions.

“Presented the magnitude of corruption in point out institutions, it stays critical that it ensures that the NLC complies with all safety prescripts and that its concentration is on ensuring that illegal and irregular conduct is sufficiently mitigated in opposition to and by making sure an satisfactory channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward perform with out currently being intimidated.”

It encouraged which the NLC set up a “Safe and sound channel” for workers to offer information on any “untoward exercise” that might not avoid or discourage workers from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers plan, based upon the Shielded Disclosures Act 25 of 2000, is actually a requirement.”

Media stories Nene outlined
A 10 December 2017 report in the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Wellbeing and Physical fitness Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has labored closely with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and proprietor in the Limpopo Mirror, to show NLC corruption. “The post had aspects of knowledge not available in the public area, therefore elevating concern on interior Information and facts protection breaches. The allegations while in the media had been independently investigated,” Nene stated. “However, workforce chargeable for divulging categorized information have nevertheless to be determined”;
A 28 January 2018 posting printed via the Dally Dispatch “citing many allegations with the Limpopo Mirror article printed on 10 December 2017 as well as a new allegation regarding a previous personnel via the identify of Mzukisi Makatse. He was billed and summarily dismissed for that risk triggered for the organisation.”
A 16 November 2018 article in the Lowvelder regarding the misappropriation of NLC funds involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has claimed how, Regardless of receiving R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has not been finished. “The Lowvelder article contained labeled info concerning NLC policy, increasing additional problems of interior details protection breaches,” Nene reported in her affidavit. “The prima facie proof with regard to these allegations did not warrant an independent Investigation, nonetheless [it] highlighted the heightened facts stability threats throughout the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a few dodgy R27.5-million grant to Denzhe Principal Care, a hijacked NPO. Nene stated GroundUp experienced verified in its story that it absolutely was based upon leaked NLC paperwork. This was despite the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Promotion of Usage of Facts) request for particulars in regards to the undertaking, she stated