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 Commission (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda questioned the Condition Protection Agency (SSA) in December 2018 to analyze the leaking of documents that uncovered lottery corruption.
The NLC’s firm secretary at the time listed media reports she explained have been based upon “stolen” information and facts in an affidavit for your SSA.
The SSA did look into. It observed the knowledge wasn't a make any difference of condition stability and the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “ample motive” to the media to show it.
A whole new board and administration has considering that taken around the NLC and thus far have taken steps to finish corruption for the establishment.
A Condition Safety Agency (SSA) investigation identified that the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “offered ample motive” for publicity because of the media.

The probe into meant “information and facts protection breaches and sabotage of NLC operations” was carried out immediately after then-NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda wrote to your SSA in December 2018 requesting it to investigate.

Here is

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by currently suspended NLC corporation secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the request, and
the security agency’s “confidential” findings and recommendations.
Nevhutanda asked the SSA to research the role of NLC team from the alleged leaking of information, and Nene, in her affidavit discovered unique media and experiences that she claimed included these leaks.

In the letter outlining its conclusions, the SSA instructed the NLC that when shielding condition info was “a lawful critical geared toward shielding the sovereignty and integrity of the condition” this only placed on appropriately labeled details.

Although it did not say so directly, the SSA findings implied that the allegedly leaked info didn't slide into this class.

Considerably, the SSA produced it very clear that the necessity to secure point out details “will not avoid any specific from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or illegal activity”.

The SSA investigation located which the NLC info involved with the alleged breach was “delicate and privileged in character, but not labeled with regards to the prescripts from the Minimal Info Protection Benchmarks (Skip)”.

“The leakage with the appropriate delicate Formal NLC information for the media isn't going to pose a risk to countrywide stability,” the SSA reported, including which the effects with the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report identified “no proof of the factual and incriminating mother nature from any on the suspected NLC staff members that could be discovered from the data and data interrogated”.

In addition it stated that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities within the NLC and at its beneficiaries does provide ample motive to have this kind of uncovered while in the media”.

Conspiracy promises
In 2020, Nevhutanda advised MPs through a session of Parliament’s trade, business and Competitors portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” through which information and facts “stolen” from the NLC was sent towards the US, where by he claimed it had been remaining sold to fund a smear marketing campaign in opposition to the NLC.

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

“I came below On this August dwelling previous year and described to honourable members that details about our beneficiaries has been stolen and put in one condition in the usa,” he told MPs.

“We named over the Point out Stability Company to return take a look at the matter due to the fact we have been receiving stories that our information and facts is building money for media platforms and journalists,” he reported. “There's been speak, obviously from a person supply, a single media, that spoke Significantly about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda stated (referring to GroundUp), but didn't convey to MPs the SSA investigation were done Just about a yr before.

Proactive funding was at the guts in the looting of your lottery. It side-stepped the conventional grant procedure. The NLC could alone recognize a project to fund and appoint a non-income organisation to oversee it.

After Nevhutanda very first advised Parliament in 2018 that he experienced requested the SSA to investigate the meant breach, the South African Countrywide Editors Discussion board issued a statement stating that his remarks reflected “a particularly harmful Perspective the place the media is being blamed for that NLC’s inherent troubles”.

“As opposed to investigating why tens of millions cannot be accounted for, the NLC has as a substitute made an effort to Forged question within the integrity from the journalists included and it has questioned the SSA to analyze their resources.”

Proactive jobs made magic formula
Security flaws identified within the NLC grant funding system throughout the SSA’s investigation, seem to have already been used being an excuse by the NLC to get rid of all proactive-funded tasks from its central grants system.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all pro-actively funding jobs was heightened to ‘key’ and jobs have been faraway from the grant funding method and preserved manually underneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Information Business, Government Supervisor Legal so as to safeguard [the] details,” Nene reported in her affidavit.

“There was plenty of interior dialogue, with a lot of forwards and backwards, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a source, who was within a senior posture within the NLC at the time, advised GroundUp. “In the long run, the choice was taken to eliminate all the proactive tasks through the process and Restrict usage of A few individuals”.

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

Maselwa, who resigned from the NLC a number of many years back, has been implicated in corruption involving lottery resources. He been given R4.three-million from lottery cash allocated to construct a library and museum advanced in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural New music and Arts Expo) which he employed to build a residence in an upmarket gated progress in Pretoria. The house is among a number of paid out for with lottery funds that were frozen once the Asset Forfeiture Device received a preservation order in December 2022.

The politically-linked Nevhutanda, who was appointed given that the NLC board chairperson by previous President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was near large-ups inside the ANC Management, former NLC former Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-Main running officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated in the corruption which confused the NLC on their enjoy.

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

Any time a new administration, including the whole board and govt, took about on the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they found a “chaotic mess” during the documentation regarding proactive funding, much of which was paper-based mostly. Important paperwork were missing. Documents held for safekeeping by doc storage firm Metrofile were signed out and by no means returned.

The NLC was ready to Get better copies of some หวย รัฐบาล documents from its Mimecast e-mail archiving procedure as well as laptops in their assistants and support employees.

News stories
In his 1 December 2018 letter, tackled to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has famous with grave problem attainable data security breaches as well as the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of private facts received because of carrying out Formal capabilities while in the Commission by NLC workforce. The pursuits are meant to undermine the integrity on the Fee even though disrupting the helpful functions [on the NLC] and producing insurmountable reputational harm for the Commission since the custodian of non-public facts entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

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

Nene is now facing a disciplinary inquiry after she was unsuccessful in authorized action to put aside findings of irregular expenditure on her check out.

The objective of her affidavit, Nene stated, was “to report the gatherings which transpired relating to facts security breaches in the Nationwide Lotteries Fee”.

She listed a variety of information stories which she claimed were being the effects of these “breaches” (see at the conclusion of this post).

Nene said that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that one among its employees, Sello Qhino, had “presented her categorised NLC Information and persistently encouraged her to supply the knowledge to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle on the series of dodgy lottery-funded assignments in Kuruman immediately after tries to boost The problem internally have been dismissed, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an 18 November 2018 post in the Daily Dispatch concerning the misappropriation of Lottery funds, Nene reported the NLC identified after which you can suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an worker in the NLC’s East London Office environment, who was the companion as well as mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s three young children.

Rungqu and Makatse consider Rungqu was punished since Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and charged internally, While using the NLC spending R470,000 on lawyers to symbolize it, but was located not guilty and allowed to return to operate.

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

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out with the household house to go ahead and take warmth off her and his young children. Dealing with homelessness, he moved into an Business in an empty manufacturing facility belonging to a friend.

Equally Makatse and Qhino are taking part in an NLC reparation procedure intended to recognise the damage lots of people experienced in the hands in the NLC. Apologies and, sometimes, money payment are predicted.

“Some men and women have been genuinely impacted really negatively by this … This is basically painful,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz told the Day by day Maverick very last yr.

“I met a handful of these men and women. It was just so heart-wrenching that their full lives have been turned the wrong way up,” reported Scholtz.

Amid Those people she satisfied ended up Qhino and Makatse.

Safe platform essential for whistleblowers
The SSA uncovered the absence at the time of a correct channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn for the media.

“Failure to have a devoted anti-corruption channel will cause staff members presenting these types of conditions beyond the NLC,” the SSA claimed in its results.

“Presented the magnitude of corruption in state establishments, it continues to be critical that it ensures that the NLC complies with all stability prescripts and that its concentrate is on making sure that illegal and irregular perform is adequately mitigated versus and by making certain an adequate channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward carry out with out staying intimidated.”

It suggested the NLC build a “Secure channel” for employees to offer info on any “untoward exercise” that will not avert or discourage workforce from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers policy, according to the Safeguarded Disclosures Act 25 of 2000, can be a necessity.”

Media studies Nene shown
A 10 December 2017 report inside the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Wellness and Physical fitness Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has worked intently with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and owner of the Limpopo Mirror, to reveal NLC corruption. “The write-up experienced aspects of information not out there in the public area, thus elevating issue on internal Facts security breaches. The allegations while in the media were independently investigated,” Nene mentioned. “Having said that, workers to blame for divulging categorised info have but to get determined”;
A 28 January 2018 short article released via the Dally Dispatch “citing various allegations from the Limpopo Mirror posting released on 10 December 2017 as well as a new allegation referring to a previous worker from the identify of Mzukisi Makatse. He was charged and summarily dismissed with the risk brought on 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 getting R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has not been done. “The Lowvelder post contained categorized facts concerning NLC plan, raising additional considerations of inner details safety breaches,” Nene stated in her affidavit. “The prima facie proof with regards to these allegations did not warrant an independent Investigation, nevertheless [it] highlighted the heightened information stability pitfalls within the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a few dodgy R27.5-million grant to Denzhe Primary Care, a hijacked NPO. Nene stated GroundUp experienced verified in its story that it absolutely was depending on leaked NLC files. This was despite the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Marketing of Usage of Details) ask for for details with regards to the project, she mentioned