Lottery bosses turned to Condition Security Agency to investigate leaks

Lottery bosses turned to Condition Security Agency to investigate leaks

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Previous Nationwide Lotteries Fee (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda requested the Point out Security Agency (SSA) in December 2018 to research the leaking of paperwork that uncovered lottery corruption.
The NLC’s business secretary at time shown media reports she mentioned have been based on “stolen” info within an affidavit with the SSA.
The SSA did look into. It observed the knowledge was not a matter of point out protection and that the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “enough motive” to the media to expose it.
A brand new board and administration has due to the fact taken above the NLC and thus far have taken actions to finish corruption in the establishment.
A Point out Security Agency (SSA) investigation observed which the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “offered sufficient motive” for publicity via the media.

The probe into supposed “info safety breaches and sabotage of NLC operations” was undertaken soon after then-NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda wrote to your SSA in December 2018 requesting it to research.

Here is

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by at present suspended NLC organization secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the ask for, and
the safety agency’s “private” results and suggestions.
Nevhutanda questioned the SSA to analyze the role of NLC workers inside the alleged leaking of knowledge, and Nene, in her affidavit determined precise media and experiences that she claimed associated these leaks.

In the letter outlining its conclusions, the SSA explained to the NLC that while safeguarding state info was “a legal vital targeted at protecting the sovereignty and integrity on the point out” this only placed on correctly labeled facts.

Even though it did not say so immediately, the SSA findings implied the allegedly leaked details didn't tumble into this class.

Appreciably, the SSA designed it crystal clear that the need to secure condition information “won't stop any unique from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or illegal activity”.

The SSA investigation uncovered that the NLC data linked to the alleged breach was “delicate and privileged in mother nature, although not classified with regard to the prescripts of the Minimal Details Safety Expectations (Miss out on)”.

“The leakage with the suitable sensitive official NLC information into the media would not pose a menace to national stability,” the SSA claimed, including which the affect from the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report uncovered “no evidence of the factual and incriminating nature in opposition to any of the suspected NLC staff members that might be discovered from the information and knowledge interrogated”.

It also stated that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities inside the NLC and at its beneficiaries does present enough motive to have this kind of exposed inside the media”.

Conspiracy claims
In 2020, Nevhutanda informed MPs for the duration of a session of Parliament’s trade, sector and Level of competition portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” wherein facts “stolen” with the NLC was sent to the US, wherever he claimed it had been being marketed to fund a smear marketing campaign in opposition to the NLC.

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

“I arrived here On this August household past year and noted to honourable associates that details about our beneficiaries has become stolen and place in one state in the usa,” he explained to MPs.

“We termed over the Condition Safety Company to come back explore the make a difference simply because we've been receiving reviews that our information and facts is creating cash for media platforms and journalists,” he claimed. “There has been converse, obviously from a person source, a single media, that spoke A great deal about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda stated (referring to GroundUp), but did not notify MPs which the SSA investigation were done almost a year earlier.

Proactive funding was at the guts of the looting of the lottery. It facet-stepped the traditional grant course of action. The NLC could by itself discover a undertaking to fund and appoint a non-earnings organisation to supervise it.

Just after Nevhutanda 1st informed Parliament in 2018 that he experienced requested the SSA to analyze the intended breach, the South African Countrywide Editors Forum issued a press release stating that his remarks mirrored “a particularly risky Mindset wherever the media is getting blamed for the NLC’s inherent challenges”.

“As an alternative to investigating why millions can't be accounted for, the NLC has instead attempted to Solid question around the integrity on the journalists associated and it has requested the SSA to research their sources.”

Proactive assignments made key
Security flaws identified from the NLC grant funding system in the course of the SSA’s investigation, surface to happen to be employed as an excuse by the NLC to get rid of all proactive-funded assignments from its central grants program.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all Professional-actively funding jobs was heightened to ‘top secret’ and jobs were removed from the grant funding process and maintained manually beneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Information Business office, Govt Supervisor Legal in an effort to safeguard [the] information and facts,” Nene stated in her affidavit.

“There was a great deal of interior dialogue, with plenty of forwards and backwards, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a supply, who was in a senior posture for the NLC at time, explained to GroundUp. “In the end, the choice was taken to eliminate many of the proactive projects in the program and Restrict entry to a handful of people today”.

Some in that handful of men and women had been implicated in corruption.

Maselwa, who resigned from the NLC various a long time back, is implicated in corruption involving lottery resources. He obtained R4.three-million from lottery money allocated to develop a library and museum complex in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural New music and Arts Expo) which he made use of to make a household in an upmarket gated improvement in Pretoria. The property is among numerous compensated for with lottery cash that were frozen following the Asset Forfeiture Unit received a preservation order in December 2022.

The politically-linked Nevhutanda, who was appointed because the NLC board chairperson by previous President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was close to substantial-ups in the ANC leadership, former NLC previous Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-Main operating officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated inside the corruption which confused the NLC on their own watch.

Also implicated are former board associates William Huma, who resigned immediately after he was confronted with proof of how he experienced profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, who's got since died.

Whenever a new administration, including the entire board and govt, took around within the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they found out a “chaotic mess” from the documentation regarding proactive funding, Considerably of which was paper-primarily based. Key paperwork had been lacking. Information held for safekeeping by doc storage business Metrofile were signed out and in no way returned.

The NLC was able to Recuperate copies of some ตรวจ หวย ลาว วัน นี้ documents from its Mimecast email archiving procedure plus the laptops of their assistants and aid personnel.

Information studies
In his one December 2018 letter, tackled to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has pointed out with grave problem doable info protection breaches and the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of confidential data attained as a result of executing official functions inside the Commission by NLC personnel. The functions are meant to undermine the integrity with the Commission even though disrupting the powerful features [from the NLC] and creating insurmountable reputational harm into the Commission because the custodian of private facts entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

His request with the SSA to investigate was supported within an affidavit by suspended NLC organization secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.

Nene is currently experiencing a disciplinary inquiry following she was unsuccessful in authorized motion to put aside findings of irregular expenditure on her look at.

The goal of her affidavit, Nene stated, was “to file the situations which transpired relating to details safety breaches with the Nationwide Lotteries Fee”.

She shown several information studies which she claimed have been the final results of those “breaches” (see at the end of this short article).

Nene stated that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that one of its workforce, Sello Qhino, had “provided her categorised NLC Details and persistently inspired her to supply the data to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle on a series of dodgy lottery-funded initiatives in Kuruman right after makes an attempt to lift the issue internally have been disregarded, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an eighteen November 2018 post inside the Each day Dispatch concerning the misappropriation of Lottery money, Nene mentioned the NLC recognized then suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an personnel while in the NLC’s East London Business office, who was the associate along with the mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s a few little ones.

Rungqu and Makatse feel Rungqu was punished since Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and billed internally, Together with the NLC investing R470,000 on legal professionals to symbolize it, but was uncovered not guilty and allowed to return to operate.

“The common Consider these article content is [they require] labeled details referring to proactive funding projects,” Nene reported in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out with the loved ones house to go ahead and take heat off her and his little ones. Going through homelessness, he moved into an office in an vacant manufacturing unit belonging to a pal.

Both of those Makatse and Qhino are participating in an NLC reparation approach meant to recognise the hurt many people endured for the arms of the NLC. Apologies and, in some cases, economic compensation are expected.

“Some folks had been actually impacted really negatively by this … This is basically painful,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz told the Day by day Maverick very last yr.

“I achieved a handful of these people. It absolutely was just so heart-wrenching that their entire lives are already turned the wrong way up,” mentioned Scholtz.

Amid People she satisfied were Qhino and Makatse.

Harmless System required for whistleblowers
The SSA found the absence at some time of a suitable channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn towards the media.

“Failure to have a devoted anti-corruption channel will result in workforce presenting these circumstances beyond the NLC,” the SSA said in its results.

“Specified the magnitude of corruption in condition establishments, it stays essential that it ensures that the NLC complies with all safety prescripts Which its concentration is on ensuring that unlawful and irregular perform is adequately mitigated in opposition to and by guaranteeing an satisfactory channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward perform devoid of currently being intimidated.”

It suggested that the NLC build a “Harmless channel” for employees to provide info on any “untoward activity” that may not protect against or discourage staff from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers plan, determined by the Protected Disclosures Act 25 of 2000, is a prerequisite.”

Media experiences Nene detailed
A ten December 2017 report in the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Overall health and Conditioning Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has labored intently with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and operator from the Limpopo Mirror, to expose NLC corruption. “The write-up had aspects of knowledge not readily available in the general public domain, thereby raising issue on inside Facts protection breaches. The allegations while in the media have been independently investigated,” Nene explained. “However, staff accountable for divulging categorised info have but to be determined”;
A 28 January 2018 write-up published because of the Dally Dispatch “citing several allegations within the Limpopo Mirror write-up posted on ten December 2017 as well as a new allegation regarding a previous personnel because of the identify of Mzukisi Makatse. He was billed and summarily dismissed with the threat caused to the organisation.”
A sixteen November 2018 posting in the Lowvelder with regards to the misappropriation of NLC cash involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has noted how, Despite getting R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab hasn't been concluded. “The Lowvelder posting contained categorised data concerning NLC coverage, raising even further considerations of interior info stability breaches,” Nene explained in her affidavit. “The prima facie proof with regards to these allegations didn't warrant an unbiased Investigation, nonetheless [it] highlighted the heightened facts stability dangers inside the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a couple of dodgy R27.5-million grant to Denzhe Major Care, a hijacked NPO. Nene stated GroundUp had verified in its story that it had been determined by leaked NLC documents. This was Regardless of the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Advertising of Use of Data) request for aspects regarding the project, she claimed