Former Countrywide Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda requested the Condition Security Company (SSA) in December 2018 to investigate the leaking of documents that exposed lottery corruption.
The NLC’s organization secretary at time mentioned media reports she stated have been according to “stolen” information in an affidavit for the SSA.
The SSA did examine. It observed the knowledge wasn't a make any difference of point out safety and which the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “sufficient motive” with the media to reveal it.
A brand new board and management has given that taken around the NLC and So far have taken actions to finish corruption at the institution.
A State Safety Agency (SSA) investigation observed which the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “provided ample motive” for publicity by the media.
The probe into supposed “info security breaches and sabotage of NLC functions” was carried out 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 now suspended NLC enterprise secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the request, and
the safety agency’s “private” results and recommendations.
Nevhutanda requested the SSA to investigate the position of NLC workers in the alleged leaking of knowledge, and Nene, in her affidavit discovered particular media and stories that she claimed associated these leaks.
Within the letter outlining its results, the SSA instructed the NLC that while safeguarding condition information and facts was “a lawful crucial geared toward defending the sovereignty and integrity on the condition” this only applied to appropriately categorised information and facts.
Even though it did not say so straight, the SSA conclusions implied the allegedly leaked details didn't slide into this class.
Considerably, the SSA built it crystal clear that the need to secure state information and facts “will not prevent any specific from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or illegal activity”.
The SSA investigation identified which the NLC information associated with the alleged breach was “sensitive and privileged in character, although not categorised in terms of the prescripts from the Bare minimum Facts Protection Benchmarks (Pass up)”.
“The leakage of your applicable delicate official NLC details towards the media doesn't pose a danger to nationwide security,” the SSA reported, incorporating that the impression in the breaches was reputational.
The SSA report discovered “no proof of the factual and incriminating character versus any in the suspected NLC employees that can be discovered from the information and knowledge interrogated”.
Additionally, it said that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities in the NLC and at its beneficiaries does deliver enough motive to possess this sort of exposed while in the media”.
Conspiracy statements
In 2020, Nevhutanda advised MPs for the duration of a session of Parliament’s trade, marketplace and Level of competition portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” wherein information and facts “stolen” with the NLC was sent into the US, where by he claimed it had been being marketed to fund a smear 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 call both.
“I arrived here In this particular August household last year and documented to honourable customers that information regarding our beneficiaries is stolen and set in a single condition in the usa,” he informed MPs.
“We identified as over the State Protection Company to come back explore the make a difference since we've been having reviews that our information and facts is making cash for media platforms and journalists,” he claimed. “There's been chat, naturally from a single source, a person media, that spoke A great deal about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda mentioned (referring to GroundUp), but didn't notify MPs which the SSA investigation were concluded Nearly a 12 months earlier.
Proactive funding was at the heart in the looting with the lottery. It aspect-stepped the conventional grant course of action. The NLC could by itself detect a challenge to fund and appoint a non-gain organisation to supervise it.
Immediately after Nevhutanda 1st advised Parliament in 2018 that he experienced requested the SSA to investigate the intended breach, the South African National Editors Discussion board issued a statement expressing that his remarks reflected “a very harmful Angle in which the media is being blamed to the NLC’s inherent complications”.
“As an alternative to investigating why tens of millions cannot be accounted for, the NLC has as an alternative attempted to Solid doubt within the integrity in the journalists concerned and has asked the SSA to investigate their resources.”
Proactive jobs built top secret
Protection flaws recognized inside the NLC grant funding method throughout the SSA’s investigation, surface to are actually applied as an justification from the NLC to eliminate all proactive-funded tasks from its central grants procedure.
“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all pro-actively funding initiatives was heightened to ‘secret’ and assignments were being removed from the grant funding program and preserved manually underneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Info Business office, Government Supervisor Authorized so as to safeguard [the] information and facts,” Nene said in her affidavit.
“There was lots of internal dialogue, with many forwards and backwards, about what to do to plug the alleged leaks”, a source, who was in a senior posture for the NLC at time, told GroundUp. “Eventually, the decision was taken to eliminate every one of the proactive projects with the program and Restrict access to a handful of people”.
Some in that handful of folks have been implicated in corruption.
Maselwa, who resigned from your NLC several decades in the past, has been implicated in corruption involving lottery cash. He obtained R4.three-million from lottery funds allocated to develop a library and museum complicated in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Tunes and Arts Expo) which he utilized to develop a house in an upmarket gated advancement in Pretoria. The residence is among several paid for with lottery funds that were frozen after the Asset Forfeiture Unit obtained a preservation order in December 2022.
The politically-connected Nevhutanda, who was appointed as the NLC board chairperson by previous President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was near significant-ups during the ANC Management, former NLC previous Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-Main working officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated within the corruption which confused the NLC on their view.
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's got because died.
Any time a new administration, including the overall board and executive, took in excess of at the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they uncovered a “chaotic mess” during the documentation referring to proactive funding, Substantially of which was paper-centered. Important documents had been missing. Information held for safekeeping by document storage business Metrofile had been signed out and in no way returned.
The NLC was capable of Recuperate copies of some lottovip files from its Mimecast electronic mail archiving method along with the laptops in their assistants and guidance team.
Information experiences
In his one December 2018 letter, resolved to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has observed with grave worry attainable data safety breaches as well as the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of confidential information and facts received because of carrying out Formal functions during the Commission by NLC employees. The functions are meant to undermine the integrity on the Fee although disrupting the helpful functions [on the NLC] and causing insurmountable reputational damage to your Fee as the custodian of personal data entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”
His ask for for that SSA to analyze was supported within an affidavit by suspended NLC enterprise secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.
Nene is currently dealing with a disciplinary inquiry right after she was unsuccessful in legal motion to put aside results of irregular expenditure on her observe.
The purpose of her affidavit, Nene said, was “to history the activities which transpired regarding facts safety breaches in the Countrywide Lotteries Fee”.
She outlined several news studies which she claimed were being the results of those “breaches” (see at the conclusion of this post).
Nene explained that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that amongst its staff, Sello Qhino, had “supplied her categorized NLC Facts and persistently inspired her to offer the information to GroundUp”.
Qhino, who blew the whistle over a series of dodgy lottery-funded initiatives in Kuruman immediately after attempts to boost The difficulty internally have been disregarded, was subsequently fired.
Referring to an 18 November 2018 report in the Day-to-day Dispatch concerning the misappropriation of Lottery money, Nene explained the NLC determined after which you can suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an staff during the NLC’s East London office, who was the husband or wife as well as mom of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s three children.
Rungqu and Makatse consider Rungqu was punished mainly because Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and charged internally, with the NLC paying out R470,000 on lawyers to characterize it, but was identified not responsible and permitted to return to work.
“The widespread Think about these content articles is usually that [they involve] categorized data concerning proactive funding projects,” Nene stated in her affidavit.
When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out in the household property to take the heat off her and his kids. Dealing with homelessness, he moved into an Workplace within an vacant factory belonging to a friend.
Both of those Makatse and Qhino are participating in an NLC reparation procedure meant to recognise the harm some people experienced on the arms in the NLC. Apologies and, occasionally, economic payment are expected.
“Some men and women were being truly influenced pretty negatively by this … This is actually unpleasant,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz advised the Each day Maverick past calendar year.
“I achieved a couple of these people. It was just so coronary heart-wrenching that their total lives have already been turned upside down,” stated Scholtz.
Among Those people she fulfilled had been Qhino and Makatse.
Safe System required for whistleblowers
The SSA found the absence at enough time of a proper channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn into the media.
“Failure to have a committed anti-corruption channel will result in staff members presenting this kind of situations beyond the NLC,” the SSA said in its findings.
“Presented the magnitude of corruption in condition establishments, it continues to be very important that it makes certain that the NLC complies with all stability prescripts Which its aim is on making sure that unlawful and irregular perform is adequately mitigated versus and by making certain an adequate channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward carry out without staying intimidated.”
It suggested the NLC build a “Protected channel” for workers to deliver info on any “untoward activity” that might not protect against or discourage employees from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers policy, determined by the Secured Disclosures Act twenty five of 2000, is often a need.”
Media experiences Nene mentioned
A ten December 2017 report from the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Health and fitness and Conditioning Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has labored closely with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and operator with the Limpopo Mirror, to expose NLC corruption. “The article experienced components of data not offered in the public domain, thus elevating issue on inner Information and facts safety breaches. The allegations from the media were independently investigated,” Nene explained. “However, personnel chargeable for divulging classified details have still to generally be discovered”;
A 28 January 2018 article published from the Dally Dispatch “citing several allegations from your Limpopo Mirror write-up printed on ten December 2017 in addition to a new allegation concerning a former employee via the title of Mzukisi Makatse. He was charged and summarily dismissed for that risk caused to your organisation.”
A 16 November 2018 short article inside the Lowvelder about the misappropriation of NLC money involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has claimed how, in spite of obtaining R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab hasn't been completed. “The Lowvelder write-up contained labeled information with regards to NLC coverage, elevating even further fears of interior information and facts stability breaches,” Nene reported in her affidavit. “The prima facie proof regarding these allegations did not warrant an independent Investigation, however [it] highlighted the heightened information stability pitfalls inside the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose about a dodgy R27.five-million grant to Denzhe Major Treatment, a hijacked NPO. Nene explained GroundUp had confirmed in its Tale that it was dependant on leaked NLC paperwork. This was Regardless of the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Promotion of Use of Info) request for aspects in regards to the challenge, she mentioned