Lottery bosses turned to Point out Protection Company to research leaks

Lottery bosses turned to Point out Protection Company to research leaks

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Previous National Lotteries Fee (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda asked the Condition Stability Company (SSA) in December 2018 to investigate the leaking of documents that exposed lottery corruption.
The NLC’s enterprise secretary at the time outlined media stories she claimed were being based upon “stolen” info in an affidavit for that SSA.
The SSA did investigate. It observed the knowledge wasn't a make any difference of state security and that the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “ample motive” for the media to expose it.
A whole new board and administration has because taken more than the NLC and Up to now have taken actions to finish corruption with the establishment.
A State Protection Company (SSA) investigation identified which the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “offered sufficient motive” for publicity by the media.

The probe into supposed “facts stability breaches and sabotage of NLC functions” was carried out after then-NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda wrote towards the SSA in December 2018 requesting it to investigate.

Here is

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by presently suspended NLC organization secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the request, and
the safety agency’s “confidential” conclusions and proposals.
Nevhutanda requested the SSA to investigate the job of NLC staff members from the alleged leaking of information, and Nene, in her affidavit discovered distinct media and reviews that she claimed associated these leaks.

Inside the letter outlining its conclusions, the SSA informed the NLC that though safeguarding point out info was “a authorized very important geared toward safeguarding the sovereignty and integrity of your state” this only placed on appropriately classified details.

Although it did not say so immediately, the SSA results implied that the allegedly leaked info did not tumble into this classification.

Noticeably, the SSA built it apparent that the necessity to safeguard state information and facts “won't avert any person from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminality”.

The SSA investigation located which the NLC data involved in the alleged breach was “sensitive and privileged in character, although not classified with regard to the prescripts of the Bare minimum Information and facts Security Specifications (Miss out on)”.

“The leakage of your related sensitive Formal NLC information towards the media will not pose a risk to national security,” the SSA said, introducing the affect in the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report identified “no proof of a factual and incriminating nature from any on the suspected NLC workers that could be determined from the information and facts interrogated”.

In addition, it mentioned that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities within the NLC and at its beneficiaries does present enough motive to get these types of uncovered within the media”.

Conspiracy statements
In 2020, Nevhutanda advised MPs all through a session of Parliament’s trade, business and Competitiveness portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” where information and facts “stolen” within the NLC was despatched to your US, wherever he claimed it had been getting sold to fund a smear marketing campaign in opposition to the NLC.

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

“I came below Within this August household last 12 months and claimed to honourable members that details about our beneficiaries has long been stolen and set in a single point out in the usa,” he told MPs.

“We referred to as about the Condition Safety Agency to come investigate the issue simply because we have been receiving reviews that our facts is generating money for media platforms and journalists,” he reported. “There have been talk, naturally from one resource, just one media, that spoke Considerably about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda stated (referring to GroundUp), but did not inform MPs which the SSA investigation had been accomplished almost a year earlier.

Proactive funding was at the heart from the looting in the lottery. It side-stepped the normal grant procedure. The NLC could itself identify a project to fund and appoint a non-profit organisation to supervise it.

Soon after Nevhutanda very first informed Parliament in 2018 that he experienced requested the SSA to analyze the supposed breach, the South African Countrywide Editors Forum issued an announcement stating that his remarks mirrored “an extremely risky Perspective where by the media is getting blamed with the NLC’s inherent issues”.

“Rather then investigating why millions cannot be accounted for, the NLC has alternatively attempted to Solid doubt about the integrity on the journalists included and has asked the SSA to analyze their resources.”

Proactive initiatives manufactured mystery
Safety flaws identified in the NLC grant funding procedure in the SSA’s investigation, surface to have been used being an justification through the NLC to remove all proactive-funded projects from its central grants procedure.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all pro-actively funding projects was heightened to ‘top secret’ and initiatives had been faraway from the grant funding program and managed manually under the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Information and facts Office environment, Executive Manager Authorized in order to safeguard [the] data,” Nene reported in her affidavit.

“There was plenty of inside dialogue, with many back and forth, about what to do to plug the alleged leaks”, a source, who was inside a senior place on the NLC at time, advised GroundUp. “Ultimately, the decision was taken to eliminate all the proactive jobs within the process and limit usage of A few folks”.

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

Maselwa, who resigned through the NLC a number of decades in the past, has been implicated in corruption involving lottery cash. He received R4.3-million from lottery cash allotted to create a library and museum elaborate in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Songs and Arts Expo) which he applied to build a residence in an upmarket gated progress in Pretoria. The property is one of a number of paid for with lottery funds that were frozen after the Asset Forfeiture Device attained a preservation buy in December 2022.

The politically-linked Nevhutanda, who was appointed as being the NLC board chairperson by former President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was close to high-ups in the ANC Management, former NLC previous Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-chief operating officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated during the corruption which overcome the NLC on their enjoy.

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

When a new administration, including the overall board and executive, took above for the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they found a “chaotic mess” while in the documentation concerning proactive funding, much of which was paper-primarily based. Essential paperwork have been missing. Information held for safekeeping by document storage business Metrofile had been signed out and never returned.

The NLC was in a position to recover copies of some ตรวจ สลากกินแบ่ง รัฐบาล documents from its Mimecast e-mail archiving procedure and also the laptops of their assistants and help personnel.

Information stories
In his 1 December 2018 letter, tackled to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has famous with grave problem attainable data safety breaches as well as the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of confidential information and facts attained due to executing Formal features in the Fee by NLC staff. The activities are intended to undermine the integrity of the Commission though disrupting the successful capabilities [from the NLC] and resulting in insurmountable reputational hurt for the Fee given that the custodian of personal details entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

His request for that SSA to analyze was supported within an affidavit by suspended NLC enterprise secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.

Nene is presently dealing with a disciplinary inquiry right after she was unsuccessful in authorized action to put aside conclusions of irregular expenditure on her look at.

The objective of her affidavit, Nene mentioned, was “to document the events which transpired concerning facts safety breaches in the Countrywide Lotteries Commission”.

She mentioned a variety of information studies which she claimed were the final results of such “breaches” (see at the conclusion of this informative article).

Nene claimed that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that one of its workers, Sello Qhino, had “supplied her classified NLC Info and persistently encouraged her to deliver the knowledge to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle on a number of dodgy lottery-funded jobs in Kuruman immediately after attempts to raise The problem internally had been dismissed, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an eighteen November 2018 write-up during the Day-to-day Dispatch with regard to the misappropriation of Lottery money, Nene claimed which the NLC determined after which suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an worker from the NLC’s East London office, who was the companion and also the mom of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s 3 young children.

Rungqu and Makatse feel Rungqu was punished simply because Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and charged internally, with the NLC spending R470,000 on attorneys to signify it, but was uncovered not guilty and allowed to return to operate.

“The common Consider these posts is usually that [they contain] classified data relating to proactive funding assignments,” Nene reported in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out from the household household to take the heat off her and his children. Experiencing homelessness, he moved into an Business within an vacant manufacturing facility belonging to a buddy.

The two Makatse and Qhino are participating in an NLC reparation process meant to recognise the damage many people suffered for the fingers of the NLC. Apologies and, sometimes, monetary payment are expected.

“Some persons had been seriously affected really negatively by this … This is really painful,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz advised the Day by day Maverick last yr.

“I satisfied several these persons. It absolutely was just so coronary heart-wrenching that their total life are already turned the wrong way up,” explained Scholtz.

Amid Individuals she met were Qhino and Makatse.

Safe System necessary for whistleblowers
The SSA discovered the absence at some time of a correct channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to show for the media.

“Failure to possess a devoted anti-corruption channel will bring about personnel presenting this kind of scenarios outside of the NLC,” the SSA mentioned in its results.

“Given the magnitude of corruption in state institutions, it stays important that it makes certain that the NLC complies with all security prescripts Which its focus is on ensuring that illegal and irregular perform is sufficiently mitigated versus and by making sure an enough channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward carry out with no currently being intimidated.”

It advisable that the NLC build a “Safe and sound channel” for employees to provide info on any “untoward activity” that could not avoid or discourage workers from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers coverage, depending on the Shielded Disclosures Act 25 of 2000, is often a requirement.”

Media studies Nene listed
A 10 December 2017 report while in the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Health and Physical fitness Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has worked carefully with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and proprietor on the Limpopo Mirror, to reveal NLC corruption. “The short article experienced things of knowledge not offered in the public domain, thus increasing problem on internal Information stability breaches. The allegations from the media have been independently investigated,” Nene mentioned. “Nevertheless, workforce to blame for divulging categorized information and facts have nevertheless to be recognized”;
A 28 January 2018 posting revealed through the Dally Dispatch “citing quite a few allegations with the Limpopo Mirror short article released on ten December 2017 plus a new allegation regarding a former employee via the identify of Mzukisi Makatse. He was charged and summarily dismissed with the menace triggered towards the organisation.”
A sixteen November 2018 write-up in the Lowvelder about the misappropriation of NLC money involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has reported how, Regardless of obtaining R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab hasn't been accomplished. “The Lowvelder posting contained classified data concerning NLC policy, raising even more problems of interior information security breaches,” Nene stated in her affidavit. “The prima facie evidence with regards to these allegations didn't warrant an impartial Investigation, on the other hand [it] highlighted the heightened facts protection hazards within the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a few dodgy R27.five-million grant to Denzhe Major Treatment, a hijacked NPO. Nene claimed GroundUp had verified in its story that it absolutely was depending on leaked NLC files. This was despite the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Advertising of Entry to Information and facts) request for facts regarding the challenge, she mentioned