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 Countrywide 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 company secretary at time listed media studies she said have been according to “stolen” facts within an affidavit with the SSA.
The SSA did look into. It discovered the information was not a make a difference of state security and that the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “enough motive” with the media to show it.
A completely new board and administration has considering the fact that taken about the NLC and To date have taken measures to finish corruption with the institution.
A Condition Security Company (SSA) investigation discovered which the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “offered enough motive” for exposure via the media.

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

Here's

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by now suspended NLC business secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the request, and
the security agency’s “private” conclusions and proposals.
Nevhutanda questioned the SSA to analyze the job of NLC team in the alleged leaking of data, and Nene, in her affidavit determined distinct media and studies that she claimed concerned these leaks.

In the letter outlining its conclusions, the SSA advised the NLC that whilst protecting condition information was “a authorized imperative directed at protecting the sovereignty and integrity of your state” this only placed on appropriately classified data.

Although it didn't say so straight, the SSA conclusions implied the allegedly leaked info didn't slide into this classification.

Substantially, the SSA designed it distinct that the need to protect condition data “would not avoid any specific from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or illegal activity”.

The SSA investigation discovered the NLC info involved with the alleged breach was “sensitive and privileged in mother nature, although not categorised regarding the prescripts with the Bare minimum Information Stability Requirements (Overlook)”.

“The leakage of your applicable delicate Formal NLC facts to the media won't pose a threat to nationwide security,” the SSA mentioned, incorporating that the affect with the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report uncovered “no proof of a factual and incriminating character towards any in the suspected NLC staff that can be recognized from the information and data interrogated”.

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

Conspiracy statements
In 2020, Nevhutanda explained to MPs for the duration of a session of Parliament’s trade, industry and Levels of competition portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” by which data “stolen” within the NLC was despatched to the US, exactly where he claimed it was getting offered to fund a smear campaign against the NLC.

He was repeating comparable claims he experienced Earlier manufactured in Parliament, which provided ad hominem assaults on GroundUp and this reporter but was cautious not to call both.

“I arrived below In this particular August home past yr and reported to honourable customers that information about our beneficiaries has actually been stolen and put in one condition in the usa,” he informed MPs.

“We identified as on the State Protection Company to come back take a look at the make a difference due to the fact we have been finding experiences that our information and facts is generating money for media platforms and journalists,” he said. “There has been talk, of course from a person supply, a single media, that spoke A lot about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda said (referring to GroundUp), but did not inform MPs which the SSA investigation had been concluded Virtually a calendar year earlier.

Proactive funding was at the center of the looting on the lottery. It facet-stepped the normal grant approach. The NLC could alone determine a task to fund and appoint a non-gain organisation to oversee it.

Right after Nevhutanda 1st instructed Parliament in 2018 that he experienced requested the SSA to research the intended breach, the South African Nationwide Editors Forum issued a statement saying that his remarks mirrored “an incredibly risky Mind-set the place the media is getting blamed for your NLC’s inherent problems”.

“Rather then investigating why thousands and thousands cannot be accounted for, the NLC has in its place tried to Solid question within the integrity of your journalists concerned and has questioned the SSA to investigate their sources.”

Proactive assignments built magic formula
Safety flaws determined during the NLC grant funding method in the course of the SSA’s investigation, show up to are actually used as an excuse by the NLC to eliminate all proactive-funded projects from its central grants program.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all pro-actively funding assignments was heightened to ‘key’ and assignments had been faraway from the grant funding system and preserved manually under the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Information Office, Executive Supervisor Lawful as a way to safeguard [the] information,” Nene stated in her affidavit.

“There was a great deal of interior dialogue, with many back and forth, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a source, who was in a senior situation on the NLC at the time, advised GroundUp. “Eventually, the choice was taken to remove every one of the proactive tasks from the system and limit use of a handful of people today”.

Some in that handful of individuals ended up implicated in corruption.

Maselwa, who resigned through the NLC numerous decades ago, has become implicated in corruption involving lottery resources. He been given R4.three-million from lottery funds allotted to construct a library and museum advanced in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural New music and Arts Expo) which he made use of to make a dwelling in an upmarket gated improvement in Pretoria. The home is one of quite a few paid for with lottery resources which were frozen after the Asset Forfeiture Unit attained a preservation buy in December 2022.

The politically-linked Nevhutanda, who was appointed given that the NLC board chairperson by former President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was near significant-ups inside the ANC Management, former NLC previous Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-Main running officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated from the corruption which overcome the NLC on their watch.

Also implicated are previous board associates William Huma, who resigned following he was confronted with proof of how he had profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, who may have considering the fact that died.

Each time a new administration, such as the total board and govt, took in excess of on the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they discovered a “chaotic mess” from the documentation associated with proactive funding, A lot of which was paper-based mostly. Vital documents had been missing. Files held for safekeeping by document storage business Metrofile had been signed out and by no means returned.

The NLC was capable of Recuperate copies of some หวย ลาว วัน นี้ documents from its Mimecast e-mail archiving process and the laptops of their assistants and assistance workers.

News reviews
In his 1 December 2018 letter, addressed to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has noted with grave issue probable information and facts stability breaches plus the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of confidential information attained because of carrying out Formal functions from the Commission by NLC workforce. The pursuits are meant to undermine the integrity from the Fee while disrupting the powerful capabilities [from the NLC] and triggering insurmountable reputational hurt to the Commission since the custodian of non-public information and 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 currently dealing with a disciplinary inquiry right after she was unsuccessful in legal motion to set aside findings of irregular expenditure on her check out.

The objective of her affidavit, Nene mentioned, was “to document the events which transpired concerning facts security breaches within the National Lotteries Fee”.

She outlined numerous information reports which she claimed were the final results of these “breaches” (see at the conclusion of this post).

Nene mentioned that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that one of its workforce, Sello Qhino, experienced “provided her classified NLC Info and persistently encouraged her to provide the information to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle on a series of dodgy lottery-funded tasks in Kuruman immediately after tries to boost The problem internally have been dismissed, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an 18 November 2018 post within the Daily Dispatch concerning the misappropriation of Lottery funds, Nene said the NLC identified and after that suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an personnel within the NLC’s East London office, who was the spouse and the mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s 3 kids.

Rungqu and Makatse imagine Rungqu was punished because Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and billed internally, Using the NLC shelling out R470,000 on attorneys to depict it, but was observed not responsible and allowed to return to work.

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

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out of your household house to go ahead and take warmth off her and his youngsters. Facing homelessness, he moved into an Business office within an vacant manufacturing unit belonging to a pal.

Equally Makatse and Qhino are taking part in an NLC reparation course of action meant to recognise the hurt some individuals suffered on the fingers in the NLC. Apologies and, in some instances, fiscal compensation are expected.

“Some people were definitely influenced quite negatively by this … This is absolutely painful,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz explained to the Day-to-day Maverick final calendar year.

“I satisfied a few these individuals. It had been just so coronary heart-wrenching that their complete life have already been turned the other way up,” reported Scholtz.

Amongst Those people she satisfied ended up Qhino and Makatse.

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

“Failure to have a dedicated anti-corruption channel will cause personnel presenting these kinds of circumstances outside of the NLC,” the SSA claimed in its results.

“Provided the magnitude of corruption in state establishments, it remains very important that it makes sure that the NLC complies with all security prescripts Which its target is on making sure that unlawful and irregular carry out is adequately mitigated against and by guaranteeing an sufficient channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward conduct without having remaining intimidated.”

It encouraged which the NLC build a “Harmless channel” for workers to deliver info on any “untoward activity” that will not avert or discourage staff members from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers coverage, based upon the Shielded Disclosures Act twenty five of 2000, is often a necessity.”

Media stories Nene mentioned
A 10 December 2017 report while in the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Wellness and Health and fitness Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has worked intently with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and proprietor of the Limpopo Mirror, to reveal NLC corruption. “The write-up experienced components of knowledge not accessible in the public area, thus raising problem on inside Information and facts security breaches. The allegations inside the media ended up independently investigated,” Nene reported. “Nonetheless, personnel responsible for divulging classified info have however for being identified”;
A 28 January 2018 write-up printed from the Dally Dispatch “citing numerous allegations through the Limpopo Mirror article posted on 10 December 2017 along with a new allegation concerning a former personnel from the title of Mzukisi Makatse. He was billed and summarily dismissed to the threat brought about for the organisation.”
A sixteen November 2018 article inside the Lowvelder regarding the misappropriation of NLC cash involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has claimed how, in spite of acquiring R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab hasn't been finished. “The Lowvelder short article contained classified details with regard to NLC plan, increasing further concerns of interior information and facts stability breaches,” Nene explained in her affidavit. “The prima facie evidence with regard to these allegations didn't warrant an independent Investigation, having said that [it] highlighted the heightened facts safety threats within the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a couple of dodgy R27.5-million grant to Denzhe Principal Treatment, a hijacked NPO. Nene mentioned GroundUp experienced confirmed in its story that it had been based on leaked NLC documents. This was despite the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Marketing of Entry to Facts) ask for for aspects in regards to the challenge, she reported

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