Lottery bosses turned to State Security Agency to investigate leaks

Lottery bosses turned to State Security Agency to investigate leaks

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Former Countrywide Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda asked the Condition Protection Company (SSA) in December 2018 to investigate the leaking of paperwork that uncovered lottery corruption.
The NLC’s firm secretary at some time shown media reports she reported have been according to “stolen” facts within an affidavit for that SSA.
The SSA did look into. It uncovered the data was not a make a difference of state security and which the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “enough motive” for that media to reveal it.
A whole new board and management has given that taken more than the NLC and Up to now have taken steps to finish corruption at the establishment.
A Point out Safety Company (SSA) investigation discovered which the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “supplied sufficient motive” for publicity with the media.

The probe into meant “data security breaches and sabotage of NLC operations” was undertaken immediately after then-NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda wrote into the SSA in December 2018 requesting it to analyze.

Here's

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by now suspended NLC company secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the ask for, and
the safety company’s “confidential” findings and recommendations.
Nevhutanda asked the SSA to investigate the role of NLC team during the alleged leaking of knowledge, and Nene, in her affidavit recognized certain media and reports that she claimed associated these leaks.

Inside the letter outlining its conclusions, the SSA explained to the NLC that when guarding state details was “a lawful imperative geared toward defending the sovereignty and integrity from the condition” this only applied to correctly categorized facts.

Although it didn't say so straight, the SSA conclusions implied that the allegedly leaked facts didn't slide into this category.

Appreciably, the SSA produced it obvious that the need to safeguard condition data “doesn't avert any unique from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminal activity”.

The SSA investigation found that the NLC information associated with the alleged breach was “delicate and privileged in character, but not labeled concerning the prescripts of your Bare minimum Facts Stability Requirements (Skip)”.

“The leakage in the suitable sensitive Formal NLC information to the media does not pose a menace to nationwide security,” the SSA reported, incorporating that the impression on the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report discovered “no proof of the factual and incriminating character versus any on the suspected NLC employees that would be identified from the information and facts interrogated”.

Furthermore, it mentioned that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities inside the NLC and at its beneficiaries does deliver ample motive to own such exposed while in the media”.

Conspiracy statements
In 2020, Nevhutanda explained to MPs in the course of a session of Parliament’s trade, marketplace and competition portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” by which details “stolen” from your NLC was sent towards the US, exactly where he claimed it absolutely was remaining marketed to fund a smear campaign against the NLC.

He was repeating similar statements he had Beforehand manufactured in Parliament, which incorporated advert hominem attacks on GroundUp which reporter but was cautious not to call possibly.

“I came in this article In this particular August house previous calendar year and noted to honourable customers that information about our beneficiaries has become stolen and set in a single point out in the usa,” he told MPs.

“We referred to as about the Condition Protection Agency to come back investigate the subject for the reason that we've been finding stories that our data is creating funds for media platforms and journalists,” he stated. “There has been communicate, not surprisingly from a single resource, just one media, that spoke Significantly about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda said (referring to GroundUp), but did not tell MPs that the SSA investigation were completed Practically a calendar year earlier.

Proactive funding was at the center with the looting of the lottery. It side-stepped the conventional grant approach. The NLC could alone detect a venture to fund and appoint a non-earnings organisation to oversee it.

Soon after Nevhutanda initially explained to Parliament in 2018 that he experienced requested the SSA to investigate the supposed breach, the South African Countrywide Editors Discussion board issued a statement saying that his remarks mirrored “a very unsafe Perspective where the media is remaining blamed to the NLC’s inherent difficulties”.

“Rather than investigating why thousands and thousands cannot be accounted for, the NLC has as a substitute tried to Solid question on the integrity in the journalists included and it has questioned the SSA to investigate their sources.”

Proactive tasks designed top secret
Security flaws identified inside the NLC grant funding technique over the SSA’s investigation, show up to are actually made use of being an excuse from the NLC to eliminate all proactive-funded initiatives from its central grants process.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all pro-actively funding initiatives was heightened to ‘top secret’ and projects were being faraway from the grant funding procedure and maintained manually under the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Information and facts Office, Govt Manager Legal in an effort to safeguard [the] facts,” Nene said in her affidavit.

“There was a lot of inside discussion, with numerous backwards and forwards, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a source, who was inside of a senior posture on the NLC at some time, told GroundUp. “Eventually, the decision was taken to remove every one of the proactive jobs through the program and limit entry to a handful of people today”.

Some in that handful of folks were implicated in corruption.

Maselwa, who resigned from your NLC several decades in the past, is implicated in corruption involving lottery resources. He gained R4.3-million from lottery money allotted to develop a library and museum complex in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Audio and Arts Expo) which he utilized to create a dwelling in an upmarket gated progress in Pretoria. The assets is one of various compensated for with lottery funds which were frozen following the Asset Forfeiture Unit acquired a preservation purchase in December 2022.

The politically-connected Nevhutanda, who was appointed since the NLC board chairperson by former President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was near to significant-ups in the ANC leadership, previous NLC previous Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-chief operating officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated from the corruption which overwhelmed the NLC on their own observe.

Also implicated are previous board associates William Huma, who resigned following he was confronted with evidence of how he had profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, who's got because died.

Each time a new administration, such as the entire board and executive, took around at the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they discovered a “chaotic mess” inside the documentation concerning proactive funding, A lot of which was paper-primarily based. Crucial documents had been missing. Information held for safekeeping by document storage business Metrofile were signed out and under no circumstances returned.

The NLC was capable to recover copies of some ltpbet documents from its Mimecast electronic mail archiving program and the laptops of their assistants and assistance personnel.

News studies
In his 1 December 2018 letter, tackled to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has famous with grave problem achievable details safety breaches and also the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of private facts received because of performing Formal functions from the Commission by NLC workforce. The functions are meant to undermine the integrity on the Fee although disrupting the effective features [of your NLC] and leading to insurmountable reputational damage to the Commission since the custodian of non-public information and facts entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

His ask for for the SSA to investigate was supported in an affidavit by suspended NLC organization secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.

Nene is at the moment experiencing a disciplinary inquiry just after she was unsuccessful in lawful motion to set aside findings of irregular expenditure on her watch.

The goal of her affidavit, Nene claimed, was “to report the activities which transpired referring to info stability breaches with the National Lotteries Fee”.

She outlined many news experiences which she claimed have been the results of those “breaches” (see at the conclusion of this informative article).

Nene reported that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that among its staff members, Sello Qhino, experienced “supplied her categorized NLC Facts and persistently inspired her to deliver the data to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle with a number of dodgy lottery-funded initiatives in Kuruman just after tries to boost the issue internally had been ignored, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an eighteen November 2018 short article from the Day-to-day Dispatch in regards to the misappropriation of Lottery funds, Nene reported the NLC identified after which you can suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an worker in the NLC’s East London Business, who was the spouse as well as mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s 3 small children.

Rungqu and Makatse think Rungqu was punished for the reason that Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and billed internally, With all the NLC shelling out R470,000 on legal professionals to stand for it, but was found not responsible and permitted to return to operate.

“The prevalent Think about these article content is usually that [they contain] labeled data associated with proactive funding tasks,” Nene stated in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out of the spouse and children property to go ahead and take heat off her and his children. Experiencing homelessness, he moved into an Place of work within an vacant factory belonging to a colleague.

Each Makatse and Qhino are participating in an NLC reparation system intended to recognise the harm a number of people experienced in the fingers on the NLC. Apologies and, occasionally, economical payment are envisioned.

“Some people today were being really affected pretty negatively by this … This is really distressing,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz instructed the Each day Maverick previous year.

“I achieved a handful of these men and women. It was just so coronary heart-wrenching that their whole life happen to be turned the other way up,” stated Scholtz.

Among the Individuals she achieved were Qhino and Makatse.

Safe and sound System required for whistleblowers
The SSA observed the absence at some time of a proper channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn for the media.

“Failure to have a committed anti-corruption channel will end in workforce presenting such instances outside of the NLC,” the SSA said in its conclusions.

“Given the magnitude of corruption in point out establishments, it remains essential that it makes certain that the NLC complies with all protection prescripts and that its focus is on making sure that illegal and irregular perform is adequately mitigated from and by guaranteeing an suitable channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward perform without having currently being intimidated.”

It proposed which the NLC establish a “safe channel” for workers to deliver information on any “untoward exercise” that could not prevent or discourage personnel from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers policy, according to the Shielded Disclosures Act 25 of 2000, is a prerequisite.”

Media reviews Nene listed
A 10 December 2017 report while in the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Wellbeing and Physical fitness Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has labored intently with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and operator in the Limpopo Mirror, to reveal NLC corruption. “The posting experienced elements of information not offered in the public area, thus boosting worry on internal Information and facts security breaches. The allegations during the media were being independently investigated,” Nene said. “However, employees to blame for divulging categorised details have still to become determined”;
A 28 January 2018 short article printed by the Dally Dispatch “citing quite a few allegations from the Limpopo Mirror report posted on 10 December 2017 and also a new allegation relating to a former staff via the name of Mzukisi Makatse. He was charged and summarily dismissed to the risk induced to your organisation.”
A sixteen November 2018 report while in the Lowvelder with regard to the misappropriation of NLC cash involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has noted how, Despite obtaining R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has never been done. “The Lowvelder write-up contained categorised data when it comes to NLC coverage, raising additional problems of inner information safety breaches,” Nene reported in her affidavit. “The prima facie evidence with regard to these allegations did not warrant an independent Investigation, on the other hand [it] highlighted the heightened information security dangers within the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose about a dodgy R27.five-million grant to Denzhe Primary Treatment, a hijacked NPO. Nene reported GroundUp experienced confirmed in its story that it absolutely was dependant on leaked NLC paperwork. This was despite the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Promotion of Usage of Information and facts) ask for for facts with regard to the challenge, she claimed