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 National Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda asked the Point out Protection Agency (SSA) in December 2018 to research the leaking of files that exposed lottery corruption.
The NLC’s business secretary at enough time outlined media experiences she mentioned were being based upon “stolen” information in an affidavit to the SSA.
The SSA did examine. It uncovered the data wasn't a matter of point out stability and which the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “enough motive” for that media to reveal it.
A different board and management has considering that taken above the NLC and So far have taken steps to end corruption in the establishment.
A State Stability Agency (SSA) investigation found the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “supplied enough motive” for publicity with the media.

The probe into meant “details stability breaches and sabotage of NLC functions” was undertaken immediately after then-NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda wrote to the SSA in December 2018 requesting it to research.

Here is

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by at this time suspended NLC company secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the ask for, and
the safety company’s “private” results and suggestions.
Nevhutanda requested the SSA to research the position of NLC personnel while in the alleged leaking of knowledge, and Nene, in her affidavit identified specific media and experiences that she claimed included these leaks.

While in the letter outlining its findings, the SSA explained to the NLC that even though defending point out data was “a legal vital geared toward shielding the sovereignty and integrity in the condition” this only placed on appropriately categorized facts.

Even though it did not say so immediately, the SSA results implied the allegedly leaked information and facts didn't fall into this category.

Substantially, the SSA manufactured it crystal clear that the necessity to guard condition data “isn't going to avert any specific from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminal activity”.

The SSA investigation discovered which the NLC facts associated with the alleged breach was “delicate and privileged in character, although not categorized when it comes to the prescripts of your Bare minimum Information Protection Standards (Miss out on)”.

“The leakage on the appropriate delicate Formal NLC information to your media doesn't pose a threat to countrywide security,” the SSA stated, incorporating which the affect in the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report identified “no evidence of the factual and incriminating nature versus any of the suspected NLC workforce that can be discovered from the information and info interrogated”.

Furthermore, it stated that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities inside the NLC and at its beneficiaries does give enough motive to possess such exposed inside the media”.

Conspiracy statements
In 2020, Nevhutanda advised MPs all through a session of Parliament’s trade, sector and Competitiveness portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” by which facts “stolen” from your NLC was sent into the US, where he claimed it was staying bought to fund a smear marketing campaign against the NLC.

He was repeating comparable claims he had previously produced in Parliament, which incorporated ad hominem assaults on GroundUp which reporter but was watchful not to name possibly.

“I arrived listed here In this particular August residence last calendar year and described to honourable associates that information about our beneficiaries has long been stolen and put in a single state in the united states,” he told MPs.

“We identified as within the Condition Stability Agency to come back take a look at the make a difference mainly because we are obtaining studies that our information and facts is generating cash for media platforms and journalists,” he mentioned. “There was chat, not surprisingly from a person resource, just one media, that spoke Substantially about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda explained (referring to GroundUp), but did not tell MPs which the SSA investigation had been completed Pretty much a 12 months earlier.

Proactive funding was at the center from the looting of your lottery. It side-stepped the traditional grant method. The NLC could alone determine a job to fund and appoint a non-revenue organisation to oversee it.

Just after Nevhutanda very first instructed Parliament in 2018 that he experienced questioned the SSA to analyze the supposed breach, the South African National Editors Forum issued a statement stating that his remarks reflected “a particularly hazardous Frame of mind wherever the media is staying blamed for that NLC’s inherent challenges”.

“In lieu of investigating why thousands and thousands cannot be accounted for, the NLC has instead made an effort to cast question around the integrity of your journalists included and it has asked the SSA to analyze their resources.”

Proactive assignments made mystery
Stability flaws identified from the NLC grant funding system in the course of the SSA’s investigation, surface to happen to be utilised being an justification because of the NLC to eliminate all proactive-funded jobs from its central grants procedure.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all Professional-actively funding initiatives was heightened to ‘top secret’ and initiatives ended up removed from the grant funding method and maintained manually underneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Facts Business office, Executive Supervisor Legal in order to safeguard [the] facts,” Nene mentioned in her affidavit.

“There was a lot of inner dialogue, with plenty of forwards and backwards, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a source, who was in the senior posture in the NLC at time, instructed GroundUp. “Eventually, the choice was taken to eliminate each of the proactive jobs from your procedure and limit entry to a handful of persons”.

Some in that handful of people have been implicated in corruption.

Maselwa, who resigned within the NLC several a long time in the past, has been implicated in corruption involving lottery money. He been given R4.three-million from lottery resources allotted to make a library and museum intricate in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural New music and Arts Expo) which he used to create a residence within an upmarket gated progress in Pretoria. The home is one of a number of paid for with lottery resources that were frozen after the Asset Forfeiture Unit acquired a preservation buy in December 2022.

The politically-linked Nevhutanda, who was appointed since the NLC board chairperson by previous President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was near high-ups from the ANC Management, previous NLC previous Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-chief working officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated during the corruption which confused the NLC on their own check out.

Also implicated are previous board associates William Huma, who resigned right after he was confronted with evidence of how he experienced profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, who's got considering the fact that died.

Any time a new administration, including the entire board and govt, took about on the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they discovered a “chaotic mess” while in the documentation relating to proactive funding, Substantially of which was paper-primarily based. Critical files have been lacking. Files held for safekeeping by document storage firm Metrofile were signed out and hardly ever returned.

The NLC was in a position to recover copies of some หวย ออก documents from its Mimecast e mail archiving procedure and also the laptops of their assistants and help staff members.

Information experiences
In his one December 2018 letter, dealt with to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has pointed out with grave worry doable facts protection breaches plus the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of confidential info obtained on account of doing official features inside the Fee by NLC staff members. The routines are meant to undermine the integrity in the Fee whilst disrupting the productive functions [on the NLC] and causing insurmountable reputational damage to your Fee as the custodian of non-public facts entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

His ask for with the SSA to analyze was supported within an affidavit by suspended NLC company secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.

Nene is presently going through a disciplinary inquiry soon after she was unsuccessful in authorized action to put aside results of irregular expenditure on her look at.

The objective of her affidavit, Nene stated, was “to record the situations which transpired regarding data security breaches within the National Lotteries Fee”.

She outlined many news stories which she claimed were the final results of such “breaches” (see at the end of this article).

Nene mentioned that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that amongst its workers, Sello Qhino, had “presented her labeled NLC Information and facts and persistently inspired her to deliver the data to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle over a series of dodgy lottery-funded assignments in Kuruman soon after makes an attempt to raise The difficulty internally were being overlooked, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an 18 November 2018 article during the Each day Dispatch with regards to the misappropriation of Lottery funds, Nene reported the NLC discovered then suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an staff inside the NLC’s East London office, who was the associate and the mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s three little ones.

Rungqu and Makatse believe Rungqu was punished since Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and charged internally, Along with the NLC expending R470,000 on legal professionals to stand for it, but was found not responsible and permitted to return to work.

“The typical Think about these articles is that [they contain] labeled details relating to proactive funding jobs,” Nene explained in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out from the spouse and children residence to go ahead and take heat off her and his young children. Facing homelessness, he moved into an Business office within an vacant factory belonging to a buddy.

Both equally Makatse and Qhino are taking part in an NLC reparation procedure intended to recognise the harm a number of people endured with the palms on the NLC. Apologies and, sometimes, fiscal compensation are expected.

“Some individuals were definitely impacted extremely negatively by this … This is really unpleasant,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz explained to the Day-to-day Maverick last 12 months.

“I met several these people. It had been just so coronary heart-wrenching that their whole lives are already turned the other way up,” said Scholtz.

Amid All those she achieved were Qhino and Makatse.

Secure platform necessary for whistleblowers
The SSA identified the absence at time of a correct channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn to the media.

“Failure to possess a committed anti-corruption channel will end in personnel presenting these kinds of circumstances outside of the NLC,” the SSA claimed in its findings.

“Given the magnitude of corruption in condition institutions, it stays essential that it makes certain that the NLC complies with all security prescripts and that its focus is on making certain that unlawful and irregular perform is adequately mitigated in opposition to and by making sure an sufficient channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward carry out without the need of becoming intimidated.”

It advisable the NLC create a “Harmless channel” for workers to deliver info on any “untoward action” that could not protect against or discourage workforce from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers coverage, based upon the Safeguarded Disclosures Act 25 of 2000, is really a need.”

Media stories Nene detailed
A ten December 2017 report from the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Overall health and Health and fitness Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has labored closely with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and proprietor of your Limpopo Mirror, to reveal NLC corruption. “The posting had aspects of data not accessible in the public domain, therefore increasing issue on internal Details protection breaches. The allegations while in the media had been independently investigated,” Nene stated. “Nevertheless, employees chargeable for divulging labeled info have nonetheless to get identified”;
A 28 January 2018 report published with the Dally Dispatch “citing numerous allegations through the Limpopo Mirror article printed on 10 December 2017 in addition to a new allegation relating to a former worker with the title of Mzukisi Makatse. He was billed and summarily dismissed for that menace brought about into the organisation.”
A sixteen November 2018 short article from the Lowvelder about the misappropriation of NLC resources involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has described how, Regardless of receiving R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab hasn't been accomplished. “The Lowvelder post contained categorised facts regarding NLC plan, elevating further problems of internal facts security breaches,” Nene explained in her affidavit. “The prima facie proof with regard to these allegations did not warrant an impartial Investigation, having said that [it] highlighted the heightened info safety challenges 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 verified in its Tale that it had been determined by leaked NLC paperwork. This was Regardless of the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Promotion of Usage of Information and facts) request for specifics about the venture, she mentioned

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