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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Former Countrywide Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda requested the Point out Security Agency (SSA) in December 2018 to investigate the leaking of documents that exposed lottery corruption.
The NLC’s corporation secretary at some time mentioned media reports she stated had been based upon “stolen” facts in an affidavit for your SSA.
The SSA did investigate. It uncovered the knowledge was not a make any difference of condition security and the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “enough motive” to the media to expose it.
A completely new board and management has since taken in excess of the NLC and thus far have taken measures to end corruption for the establishment.
A Point out Security Agency (SSA) investigation identified the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “delivered sufficient motive” for exposure through the media.

The probe into intended “facts protection breaches and sabotage of NLC functions” was undertaken just after then-NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda wrote on the SSA in December 2018 requesting it to investigate.

Here's

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by at this time suspended NLC company secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the request, and
the safety company’s “private” results and suggestions.
Nevhutanda asked the SSA to investigate the role of NLC team during the alleged leaking of data, and Nene, in her affidavit discovered unique media and reviews that she claimed involved these leaks.

During the letter outlining its findings, the SSA advised the NLC that although shielding state data was “a authorized very important geared toward shielding the sovereignty and integrity of your state” this only placed on appropriately categorized information and facts.

Although it did not say so specifically, the SSA conclusions implied the allegedly leaked facts did not drop into this category.

Substantially, the SSA produced it distinct that the need to shield point out information and facts “won't avert any specific from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminality”.

The SSA investigation uncovered that the NLC facts associated with the alleged breach was “delicate and privileged in nature, although not labeled with regard to the prescripts in the Minimum amount Info Stability Requirements (Miss out on)”.

“The leakage from the applicable delicate official NLC facts to the media won't pose a threat to nationwide stability,” the SSA stated, introducing that the influence from the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report located “no evidence of a factual and incriminating character in opposition to any from the suspected NLC employees that could be discovered from the data and information interrogated”.

Furthermore, it stated that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities in the NLC and at its beneficiaries does offer sufficient motive to get this sort of uncovered inside the media”.

Conspiracy promises
In 2020, Nevhutanda advised MPs through a session of Parliament’s trade, industry and Levels of competition portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” in which details “stolen” within the NLC was despatched to the US, the place he claimed it had been getting offered to fund a smear campaign in opposition to the NLC.

He was repeating related promises he had previously built in Parliament, which provided ad hominem attacks on GroundUp and this reporter but was careful not to call either.

“I came here In this particular August home very last year and noted to honourable customers that information about our beneficiaries is stolen and place in one condition in the united states,” he advised MPs.

“We identified as over the Point out Protection Agency to come explore the issue mainly because we're acquiring reports that our information is building dollars for media platforms and journalists,” he explained. “There's been chat, naturally from a single resource, just one media, that spoke Considerably about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda explained (referring to GroundUp), but failed to convey to MPs that the SSA investigation had been done Nearly a 12 months previously.

Proactive funding was at the center with the looting of your lottery. It facet-stepped the traditional grant process. The NLC could alone identify a project to fund and appoint a non-profit organisation to supervise it.

Right after Nevhutanda first informed Parliament in 2018 that he had requested the SSA to research the meant breach, the South African Nationwide Editors Discussion board issued a statement indicating that his remarks mirrored “an extremely dangerous Mindset where the media is being blamed for your NLC’s inherent problems”.

“As an alternative to investigating why hundreds of thousands can not be accounted for, the NLC has instead attempted to Forged doubt to the integrity in the journalists associated and has asked the SSA to analyze their resources.”

Proactive assignments produced magic formula
Protection flaws determined within the NLC grant funding procedure throughout the SSA’s investigation, appear to are already used being an justification from the NLC to get rid of all proactive-funded initiatives from its central grants process.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all pro-actively funding projects was heightened to ‘top secret’ and tasks were removed from the grant funding process and preserved manually beneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Details Office, Government Manager Authorized as a way to safeguard [the] information and facts,” Nene explained in her affidavit.

“There was loads of internal discussion, with a lot of forwards and backwards, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a resource, who was in a senior place on the NLC at enough time, told GroundUp. “In the end, the choice was taken to get rid of the many proactive initiatives through the process and Restrict entry to a handful of people today”.

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

Maselwa, who resigned in the NLC quite a few a long time back, is implicated in corruption involving lottery resources. He received R4.3-million from lottery cash allotted to make a library and museum sophisticated in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Audio and Arts Expo) which he applied to make a home in an upmarket gated advancement in Pretoria. The house is among several paid out for with lottery cash which were frozen following the Asset Forfeiture Unit obtained a preservation get in December 2022.

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

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

Any time a new administration, including the complete board and govt, took above in the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they discovered a “chaotic mess” during the documentation associated with proactive funding, A lot of which was paper-based mostly. Key documents ended up lacking. Data files held for safekeeping by doc storage organization Metrofile had been signed out and never ever returned.

The NLC was able to Get better copies of some เช ค หวย files from its Mimecast email archiving process and also the laptops of their assistants and assist staff.

Information reports
In his 1 December 2018 letter, addressed to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has noted with grave concern feasible details safety breaches plus the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of private info obtained as a result of carrying out official capabilities while in the Commission by NLC employees. The activities are intended to undermine the integrity from the Fee although disrupting the effective features [of the NLC] and causing insurmountable reputational harm for the Commission because the custodian of personal information entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

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

Nene is now dealing with a disciplinary inquiry soon after she was unsuccessful in authorized action to set aside conclusions of irregular expenditure on her view.

The purpose of her affidavit, Nene reported, was “to file the gatherings which transpired concerning information and facts stability breaches on the National Lotteries Fee”.

She detailed various news reports which she claimed were being the final results of these “breaches” (see at the conclusion of this post).

Nene stated that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that amongst its personnel, Sello Qhino, experienced “supplied her labeled NLC Info and persistently encouraged her to offer the data to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle with a number of dodgy lottery-funded projects in Kuruman following attempts to raise the issue internally had been ignored, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an 18 November 2018 write-up while in the Each day Dispatch about the misappropriation of Lottery funds, Nene claimed the NLC identified and then suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an personnel while in the NLC’s East London Place of work, who was the partner as well as mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s 3 children.

Rungqu and Makatse imagine Rungqu was punished because Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and charged internally, Together with the NLC spending R470,000 on lawyers to signify it, but was located not responsible and allowed to return to work.

“The frequent Think about these article content is usually that [they require] categorized information relating to proactive funding jobs,” Nene reported in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out on the household house to take the warmth off her and his little ones. Facing homelessness, he moved into an Office environment within an empty manufacturing unit belonging to a pal.

Equally Makatse and Qhino are participating in an NLC reparation procedure intended to recognise the damage a lot of people endured within the fingers with the NLC. Apologies and, sometimes, fiscal compensation are envisioned.

“Some people today ended up definitely afflicted very negatively by this … This is actually painful,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz told the Every day Maverick last 12 months.

“I met a number of these men and women. It absolutely was just so coronary heart-wrenching that their entire lives are actually turned the wrong way up,” reported Scholtz.

Amongst All those she met have been Qhino and Makatse.

Safe System needed for whistleblowers
The SSA located the absence at some time of a proper channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn to the media.

“Failure to possess a devoted anti-corruption channel will lead to employees presenting these kinds of circumstances beyond the NLC,” the SSA explained in its conclusions.

“Provided the magnitude of corruption in point out institutions, it stays crucial that it ensures that the NLC complies with all protection prescripts and that its emphasis is on making sure that unlawful and irregular perform is adequately mitigated towards and by making certain an enough channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward perform without having being intimidated.”

It suggested that the NLC establish a “Secure channel” for employees to deliver info on any “untoward action” that will not stop or discourage workers from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers policy, based on the Secured Disclosures Act 25 of 2000, is really a need.”

Media stories Nene outlined
A ten December 2017 report inside the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Health and Exercise Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has labored carefully with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and proprietor of your Limpopo Mirror, to expose NLC corruption. “The write-up experienced things of data not obtainable in the public domain, thereby boosting worry on inside Information security breaches. The allegations within the media had been independently investigated,” Nene stated. “Nevertheless, staff answerable for divulging categorized information and facts have but to be recognized”;
A 28 January 2018 posting released through the Dally Dispatch “citing various allegations from your Limpopo Mirror article revealed on ten December 2017 as well as a new allegation relating to a former employee from the name of Mzukisi Makatse. He was charged and summarily dismissed to the risk induced into the organisation.”
A sixteen November 2018 short article during the Lowvelder in regards to the misappropriation of NLC money involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has documented how, in spite of acquiring R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab hasn't been concluded. “The Lowvelder short article contained categorized information concerning NLC policy, boosting even more issues of interior facts safety breaches,” Nene reported in her affidavit. “The prima facie evidence regarding these allegations didn't warrant an unbiased Investigation, nonetheless [it] highlighted the heightened information safety pitfalls in the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a couple of dodgy R27.5-million grant to Denzhe Key Treatment, a hijacked NPO. Nene said GroundUp had confirmed in its story that it was depending on leaked NLC documents. This was despite the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Advertising of Use of Facts) request for particulars in regards to the challenge, she reported