Lottery bosses turned to Condition Safety Agency to investigate leaks

Lottery bosses turned to Condition Safety Agency to investigate leaks

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Previous Nationwide Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda requested the Point out Security Agency (SSA) in December 2018 to research the leaking of files that uncovered lottery corruption.
The NLC’s firm secretary at enough time mentioned media studies she claimed were being determined by “stolen” information and facts within an affidavit to the SSA.
The SSA did examine. It discovered the information wasn't a issue of state stability and which the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “sufficient motive” for the media to show it.
A new board and administration has considering that taken over the NLC and Up to now have taken measures to end corruption within the institution.
A State Protection Company (SSA) investigation discovered the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “delivered enough motive” for publicity with the media.

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

Here's

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by at the moment suspended NLC organization secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the request, and
the safety agency’s “private” findings and suggestions.
Nevhutanda questioned the SSA to research the purpose of NLC team in the alleged leaking of information, and Nene, in her affidavit discovered particular media and stories that she claimed concerned these leaks.

During the letter outlining its conclusions, the SSA informed the NLC that although preserving state information and facts was “a authorized very important targeted at shielding the sovereignty and integrity with the point out” this only applied to properly labeled data.

Even though it didn't say so immediately, the SSA results implied the allegedly leaked information and facts didn't slide into this class.

Drastically, the SSA created it very clear that the need to shield condition facts “does not reduce any particular person from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminal activity”.

The SSA investigation identified which the NLC info involved with the alleged breach was “sensitive and privileged in mother nature, although not categorized with regards to the prescripts with the Minimal Facts Security Benchmarks (MISS)”.

“The leakage on the applicable delicate Formal NLC information and facts towards the media will not pose a risk to national stability,” the SSA claimed, incorporating the influence of the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report identified “no evidence of the factual and incriminating nature versus any with the suspected NLC staff that might be identified from the knowledge and data interrogated”.

It also said that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities in the NLC and at its beneficiaries does provide enough motive to possess these types of uncovered within the media”.

Conspiracy claims
In 2020, Nevhutanda advised MPs through a session of Parliament’s trade, industry and Opposition portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” through which data “stolen” with the NLC was sent to your US, wherever he claimed it had been being bought to fund a smear campaign versus the NLC.

He was repeating very similar claims he experienced Earlier created in Parliament, which included advert hominem attacks on GroundUp and this reporter but was careful not to name both.

“I arrived here With this August home past year and documented to honourable customers that information about our beneficiaries has long been stolen and put in one condition in the usa,” he explained to MPs.

“We referred to as to the Point out Stability Agency to come back investigate the make any difference because we are getting reports that our data is building cash for media platforms and journalists,” he stated. “There has been discuss, naturally from one particular source, one media, that spoke A great deal about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda explained (referring to GroundUp), but didn't notify MPs that the SSA investigation had been accomplished Just about a calendar year before.

Proactive funding was at the guts of your looting with the lottery. It facet-stepped the traditional grant method. The NLC could by itself establish a challenge to fund and appoint a non-profit organisation to oversee it.

Following Nevhutanda initial informed Parliament in 2018 that he had asked the SSA to analyze the meant breach, the South African Nationwide Editors Discussion board issued a statement declaring that his remarks mirrored “an extremely hazardous Frame of mind the place the media is staying blamed for your NLC’s inherent challenges”.

“Rather than investigating why hundreds of thousands cannot be accounted for, the NLC has rather made an effort to cast question over the integrity from the journalists concerned and it has requested the SSA to investigate their sources.”

Proactive projects designed mystery
Protection flaws discovered within the NLC grant funding procedure through the SSA’s investigation, look to are already made use of being an excuse through the NLC to remove all proactive-funded jobs from its central grants process.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all pro-actively funding tasks was heightened to ‘top secret’ and assignments were faraway from the grant funding system and preserved manually beneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Info Workplace, Government Manager Lawful so as to safeguard [the] details,” Nene reported in her affidavit.

“There was a great deal of inside discussion, with lots of forwards and backwards, about what to do to plug the alleged leaks”, a resource, who was in a senior place with the NLC at enough time, advised GroundUp. “In the long run, the decision was taken to get rid of every one of the proactive initiatives with the technique and limit access to A few men and women”.

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

Maselwa, who resigned from the NLC many yrs back, continues to be implicated in corruption involving lottery money. He acquired R4.3-million from lottery money allocated to construct a library and museum intricate in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Audio and Arts Expo) which he utilised to create a residence in an upmarket gated development in Pretoria. The assets is among numerous paid for with lottery cash that were frozen once the Asset Forfeiture Unit attained a preservation purchase in December 2022.

The politically-related Nevhutanda, who was appointed since the NLC board chairperson by previous President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was close to significant-ups within the ANC Management, previous NLC former Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-chief running officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated in the corruption which overwhelmed the NLC on their enjoy.

Also implicated are previous board users William Huma, who resigned right after he was confronted with evidence of how he had profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, that has due to the fact died.

Any time a new administration, such as the full board and govt, took about for 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-based mostly. Important files have been lacking. Information held for safekeeping by doc storage organization Metrofile were signed out and never ever returned.

The NLC was in a position to Get well copies of some หวย รัฐบาล documents from its Mimecast electronic mail archiving technique as well as the laptops in their assistants and assist employees.

Information reviews
In his one December 2018 letter, addressed to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has famous with grave issue attainable information safety breaches plus the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of private info received due to performing Formal capabilities within the Commission by NLC staff. The activities are meant to undermine the integrity of the Commission though disrupting the powerful capabilities [from the NLC] and resulting in insurmountable reputational harm for the Fee given that the custodian of private info entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

His request to the SSA to research was supported within an affidavit by suspended NLC corporation secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.

Nene is now facing a disciplinary inquiry following she was unsuccessful in legal motion to put aside findings of irregular expenditure on her view.

The purpose of her affidavit, Nene reported, was “to history the gatherings which transpired associated with info stability breaches with the National Lotteries Commission”.

She outlined many news stories which she claimed had been the effects of these “breaches” (see at the end of this short article).

Nene claimed that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that certainly one of its personnel, Sello Qhino, experienced “delivered her classified NLC Info and persistently encouraged her to supply the knowledge to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle on the series of dodgy lottery-funded tasks in Kuruman right after makes an attempt to raise The difficulty internally were being disregarded, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an 18 November 2018 write-up within the Daily Dispatch concerning the misappropriation of Lottery resources, Nene explained that the NLC determined after which suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an staff while in the NLC’s East London Workplace, who was the lover and also the mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s a few kids.

Rungqu and Makatse imagine Rungqu was punished because Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and charged internally, Together with the NLC paying out R470,000 on legal professionals to represent it, but was discovered not guilty and permitted to return to operate.

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

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out of your spouse and children home to go ahead and take warmth off her and his little ones. Facing homelessness, he moved into an office within an empty manufacturing facility belonging to a buddy.

Each Makatse and Qhino are participating in an NLC reparation course of action meant to recognise the hurt lots of people experienced within the fingers with the NLC. Apologies and, in some instances, financial compensation are envisioned.

“Some men and women had been truly influenced pretty negatively by this … This is de facto painful,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz advised the Daily Maverick past yr.

“I met two or three these individuals. It had been just so heart-wrenching that their complete life have been turned upside down,” said Scholtz.

Among those she achieved ended up Qhino and Makatse.

Risk-free platform needed for whistleblowers
The SSA uncovered the absence at time of an appropriate channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn to the media.

“Failure to possess a dedicated anti-corruption channel will end in staff members presenting these situations beyond the NLC,” the SSA mentioned in its conclusions.

“Offered the magnitude of corruption in condition establishments, it continues to be essential that it makes sure that the NLC complies with all stability prescripts Which its focus is on ensuring that unlawful and irregular perform is sufficiently mitigated against and by guaranteeing an ample channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward carry out with no currently being intimidated.”

It advisable that the NLC build a “Harmless channel” for employees to provide information on any “untoward exercise” that may not avert or discourage staff from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers plan, based upon the Guarded Disclosures Act twenty five of 2000, is really a prerequisite.”

Media experiences Nene detailed
A ten December 2017 report within the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Overall health and Fitness Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has worked closely with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and owner of the Limpopo Mirror, to expose NLC corruption. “The post had components of information not accessible in the public area, therefore raising issue on inside Data safety breaches. The allegations within the media were independently investigated,” Nene claimed. “Even so, staff liable for divulging categorised details have yet to get discovered”;
A 28 January 2018 write-up released from the Dally Dispatch “citing quite a few allegations within the Limpopo Mirror post revealed on 10 December 2017 and also a new allegation concerning a previous personnel via the identify of Mzukisi Makatse. He was billed and summarily dismissed to the risk triggered towards the organisation.”
A 16 November 2018 posting during the Lowvelder about the misappropriation of NLC resources involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has documented how, in spite of obtaining R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has never been concluded. “The Lowvelder post contained categorised details concerning NLC policy, increasing further considerations of inside information safety breaches,” Nene explained in her affidavit. “The prima facie proof with regards to these allegations didn't warrant an unbiased Investigation, however [it] highlighted the heightened info security hazards inside the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose about a dodgy R27.five-million grant to Denzhe Most important Treatment, a hijacked NPO. Nene explained GroundUp had verified in its story that it was based on leaked NLC files. This was despite the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Advertising of Use of Details) ask for for information regarding the project, she claimed