Lottery bosses turned to Condition Security Agency to investigate leaks

Lottery bosses turned to Condition Security Agency to investigate leaks

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Former Nationwide Lotteries Fee (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda questioned the State Security Agency (SSA) in December 2018 to investigate the leaking of documents that uncovered lottery corruption.
The NLC’s organization secretary at time detailed media studies she explained ended up based on “stolen” info within an affidavit with the SSA.
The SSA did examine. It located the knowledge was not a make any difference of condition safety and which the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “sufficient motive” for the media to reveal it.
A whole new board and management has considering the fact that taken about the NLC and So far have taken actions to finish corruption on 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 by the media.

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

Here's

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by currently suspended NLC business secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the request, and
the safety company’s “private” results and suggestions.
Nevhutanda requested the SSA to investigate the position of NLC personnel during the alleged leaking of data, and Nene, in her affidavit determined particular media and reports that she claimed included these leaks.

Within the letter outlining its results, the SSA told the NLC that though protecting point out data was “a lawful imperative aimed at protecting the sovereignty and integrity of the point out” this only applied to properly classified information.

Although it did not say so directly, the SSA results implied the allegedly leaked information and facts didn't slide into this class.

Substantially, the SSA produced it clear that the need to protect condition information “won't stop any unique from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminal activity”.

The SSA investigation observed which the NLC details involved with the alleged breach was “delicate and privileged in mother nature, although not categorised with regard to the prescripts of your Minimum Info Security Specifications (Overlook)”.

“The leakage in the pertinent sensitive Formal NLC facts to your media won't pose a risk to countrywide protection,” the SSA mentioned, introducing the influence with the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report identified “no proof of a factual and incriminating character against any on the suspected NLC workers that would be identified from the knowledge and facts interrogated”.

In addition, 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 inside the media”.

Conspiracy statements
In 2020, Nevhutanda informed MPs for the duration of a session of Parliament’s trade, sector and Levels of competition portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” where facts “stolen” through the NLC was sent into the US, the place he claimed it was remaining offered to fund a smear marketing campaign towards the NLC.

He was repeating identical claims he experienced Beforehand created in Parliament, which bundled ad hominem attacks on GroundUp and this reporter but was thorough not to call possibly.

“I arrived right here In this particular August dwelling last year and documented 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 Security Company to come back consider the matter for the reason that we have been obtaining experiences that our data is generating income for media platforms and journalists,” he stated. “There was speak, not surprisingly from 1 supply, just one media, that spoke A lot about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda explained (referring to GroundUp), but didn't convey to MPs which the SSA investigation were completed Nearly a yr earlier.

Proactive funding was at the heart from the looting from the lottery. It side-stepped the traditional grant system. The NLC could alone establish a task to fund and appoint a non-earnings organisation to oversee it.

Just after Nevhutanda initially informed Parliament in 2018 that he experienced asked the SSA to analyze the supposed breach, the South African Countrywide Editors Forum issued an announcement saying that his remarks reflected “a particularly unsafe Mind-set exactly where the media is becoming blamed for your NLC’s inherent complications”.

“Rather then investigating why thousands and thousands cannot be accounted for, the NLC has rather tried to Forged doubt to the integrity of the journalists associated and it has asked the SSA to investigate their sources.”

Proactive projects built secret
Stability flaws determined inside the NLC grant funding technique in the SSA’s investigation, surface to are already made use of as an justification with the NLC to remove all proactive-funded initiatives from its central grants program.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all pro-actively funding projects was heightened to ‘magic formula’ and assignments had been faraway from the grant funding system and managed manually underneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Data Office environment, Executive Supervisor Lawful to be able to safeguard [the] details,” Nene mentioned in her affidavit.

“There was many internal discussion, with a great deal of back and forth, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a supply, who was in the senior placement with the NLC at enough time, instructed GroundUp. “Ultimately, the decision was taken to get rid of every one of the proactive assignments in the method and Restrict access to a handful of folks”.

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

Maselwa, who resigned within the NLC quite a few several years back, has actually been implicated in corruption involving lottery funds. He acquired R4.three-million from lottery resources allocated to create a library and museum intricate in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Songs and Arts Expo) which he made use of to construct a residence in an upmarket gated improvement in Pretoria. The property is among various paid out for with lottery funds which were frozen following the Asset Forfeiture Unit received a preservation purchase in December 2022.

The politically-related Nevhutanda, who was appointed as being the NLC board chairperson by former President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was near to large-ups in the ANC leadership, previous NLC former Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-chief running officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated within the corruption which overcome the NLC on their own watch.

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

When a new administration, including the whole board and executive, took more than on the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they uncovered a “chaotic mess” while in the documentation associated with proactive funding, Considerably of which was paper-based mostly. Important files ended up missing. Data files held for safekeeping by document storage company Metrofile were signed out and in no way returned.

The NLC was in a position to Get well copies of some หวย ลาว วัน นี้ paperwork from its Mimecast e-mail archiving program as well as the laptops in their assistants and guidance personnel.

News stories
In his 1 December 2018 letter, resolved to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has mentioned with grave issue achievable information safety breaches and the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of confidential facts obtained because of undertaking Formal capabilities in the Commission by NLC staff. The functions are meant to undermine the integrity with the Fee when disrupting the helpful capabilities [of your NLC] and producing insurmountable reputational hurt to your Commission because the custodian of private information and facts entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

His request for the SSA to analyze was supported in an affidavit by suspended NLC company secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.

Nene is now experiencing a disciplinary inquiry right after she was unsuccessful in lawful action to set aside results of irregular expenditure on her watch.

The objective of her affidavit, Nene reported, was “to document the gatherings which transpired relating to details protection breaches within the Countrywide Lotteries Fee”.

She listed numerous news reviews which she claimed had been the outcome of these “breaches” (see at the end of this informative article).

Nene mentioned that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that among its workers, Sello Qhino, experienced “furnished her categorized NLC Info and persistently inspired her to supply the data to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle on a number of dodgy lottery-funded tasks in Kuruman just after attempts to boost The difficulty internally had been overlooked, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an eighteen November 2018 write-up from the Every day Dispatch with regards to the misappropriation of Lottery resources, Nene stated that the NLC identified then suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an personnel while in the NLC’s East London Business, who was the husband or wife as well as mom of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s 3 kids.

Rungqu and Makatse think Rungqu was punished because 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 found not guilty and permitted to return to work.

“The widespread Think about these articles or blog posts is that [they entail] labeled information associated with proactive funding initiatives,” Nene reported in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out in the relatives property to go ahead and take heat off her and his children. Struggling with homelessness, he moved into an Business within an empty manufacturing facility belonging to an acquaintance.

Both of those Makatse and Qhino are taking part in an NLC reparation method intended to recognise the hurt a lot of people endured on the arms on the NLC. Apologies and, in some instances, economical payment are anticipated.

“Some men and women were definitely afflicted incredibly negatively by this … This is admittedly unpleasant,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz told the Day by day Maverick final 12 months.

“I fulfilled a couple of these people today. It absolutely was just so coronary heart-wrenching that their full life happen to be turned upside down,” said Scholtz.

Among those she achieved ended up Qhino and Makatse.

Safe and sound platform needed for whistleblowers
The SSA found the absence at some time of a correct channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to show on 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 conclusions.

“Offered the magnitude of corruption in condition establishments, it continues to be crucial that it makes sure that the NLC complies with all protection prescripts Which its concentrate is on making certain that illegal and irregular carry out is adequately mitigated in opposition to and by making sure an sufficient channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward conduct with no staying intimidated.”

It recommended which the NLC build a “safe channel” for employees to provide info on any “untoward exercise” that could not reduce or discourage workforce from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers policy, depending on the Safeguarded Disclosures Act 25 of 2000, is really a need.”

Media stories Nene shown
A ten December 2017 report while in the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Well being and Conditioning Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has worked intently with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and owner with the Limpopo Mirror, to reveal NLC corruption. “The report experienced elements of information not readily available in the general public area, therefore increasing worry on inner Data protection breaches. The allegations while in the media have been independently investigated,” Nene explained. “On the other hand, staff members chargeable for divulging labeled data have but to be determined”;
A 28 January 2018 article released through the Dally Dispatch “citing several allegations from the Limpopo Mirror report released on ten December 2017 and a new allegation referring to a former employee from the name of Mzukisi Makatse. He was billed and summarily dismissed with the danger brought about to your organisation.”
A 16 November 2018 post in the Lowvelder in regards to the misappropriation of NLC funds involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has claimed how, Regardless of receiving R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has not been completed. “The Lowvelder short article contained classified facts with regards to NLC plan, raising even more fears of internal data stability breaches,” Nene said in her affidavit. “The prima facie evidence with regard to these allegations did not warrant an independent Investigation, nonetheless [it] highlighted the heightened data protection pitfalls in the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a couple of dodgy R27.5-million grant to Denzhe Main Treatment, a hijacked NPO. Nene reported GroundUp experienced confirmed in its Tale that it had been determined by leaked NLC documents. This was Regardless of the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Marketing of Access to Facts) request for aspects with regards to the undertaking, she said