Lottery bosses turned to Condition Security Agency to research leaks

Lottery bosses turned to Condition Security Agency to research leaks

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Previous Countrywide Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda requested the Condition Protection Company (SSA) in December 2018 to research the leaking of paperwork that exposed lottery corruption.
The NLC’s enterprise secretary at some time mentioned media reports she said were determined by “stolen” data in an affidavit with the SSA.
The SSA did examine. It identified the information was not a matter of point out security and the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “ample motive” to the media to show it.
A different board and management has due to the fact taken more than the NLC and To date have taken steps to finish corruption in the institution.
A Condition Protection Company (SSA) investigation uncovered which the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “supplied ample motive” for exposure through the media.

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

Here is

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by currently suspended NLC company secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the ask for, and
the security company’s “private” results and recommendations.
Nevhutanda requested the SSA to investigate the purpose of NLC workers in the alleged leaking of knowledge, and Nene, in her affidavit discovered certain media and experiences that she claimed involved these leaks.

While in the letter outlining its conclusions, the SSA told the NLC that although shielding point out information was “a legal crucial aimed toward safeguarding the sovereignty and integrity with the condition” this only applied to appropriately categorized facts.

Even though it didn't say so directly, the SSA results implied the allegedly leaked details didn't fall into this category.

Substantially, the SSA designed it clear that the need to protect condition details “isn't going to avert any person from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminality”.

The SSA investigation located the NLC information involved in the alleged breach was “sensitive and privileged in nature, but not categorized in terms of the prescripts with the Minimum Details Security Standards (Miss out on)”.

“The leakage of the related sensitive official NLC details for the media will not pose a threat to countrywide safety,” the SSA said, introducing that the effects on the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report discovered “no proof of the factual and incriminating character versus any in the suspected NLC workforce 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 inside the media”.

Conspiracy statements
In 2020, Nevhutanda informed 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 to the US, where by he claimed it had been being marketed to fund a smear marketing campaign in opposition to the NLC.

He was repeating comparable statements he experienced previously designed in Parliament, which integrated advertisement hominem assaults on GroundUp which reporter but was careful not to name both.

“I arrived in this article Within this August residence very last calendar year and claimed to honourable users that information about our beneficiaries is stolen and put in one point out in the usa,” he instructed MPs.

“We identified as to the Condition Security Company to come back consider the matter for the reason that we have been obtaining experiences that our data is generating dollars for media platforms and journalists,” he mentioned. “There have been discuss, certainly from a single resource, one media, that spoke Considerably about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda reported (referring to GroundUp), but failed to inform MPs that the SSA investigation had been finished Practically a 12 months previously.

Proactive funding was at the center in the looting on the lottery. It aspect-stepped the normal grant procedure. The NLC could itself detect a challenge to fund and appoint a non-financial gain organisation to oversee it.

Right after Nevhutanda initial explained to Parliament in 2018 that he had questioned the SSA to research the meant breach, the South African Nationwide Editors Discussion board issued a statement indicating that his remarks reflected “a very harmful Mind-set exactly where the media is staying blamed for the NLC’s inherent difficulties”.

“Rather then investigating why millions can't be accounted for, the NLC has in its place tried to Solid question over the integrity in the journalists included and it has questioned the SSA to analyze their resources.”

Proactive projects created solution
Stability flaws discovered in the NLC grant funding method through the SSA’s investigation, look to are already utilised as an justification because of the NLC to get rid of all proactive-funded assignments from its central grants method.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all Professional-actively funding assignments was heightened to ‘key’ and projects ended up removed from the grant funding process and taken care of manually underneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Details Office, Government Supervisor Lawful in order to safeguard [the] facts,” Nene reported in her affidavit.

“There was a lot of internal discussion, with lots of back and forth, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a resource, who was in a very senior situation for the NLC at time, informed GroundUp. “Ultimately, the choice was taken to remove each of the proactive initiatives in the process and Restrict access to A few people today”.

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

Maselwa, who resigned from the NLC quite a few yrs back, continues to be implicated in corruption involving lottery money. He gained R4.3-million from lottery money allotted to make a library and museum complex in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Music and Arts Expo) which he applied to build a house in an upmarket gated enhancement in Pretoria. The home is one of a number of paid for with lottery funds that were frozen once the Asset Forfeiture Unit received a preservation get in December 2022.

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

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

Each time a new administration, including the whole board and executive, took about at the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they found a “chaotic mess” within the documentation referring to proactive funding, A lot of which was paper-based. Vital paperwork were lacking. Files held for safekeeping by doc storage business Metrofile were signed out and in no way returned.

The NLC was able to Recuperate copies of some ตรวจ หวย documents from its Mimecast electronic mail archiving process along with the laptops of their assistants and guidance workers.

Information reviews
In his one December 2018 letter, addressed to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has observed with grave concern attainable information safety breaches as well as unauthorised use and/or dissemination of private info acquired due to accomplishing Formal capabilities in the Fee by NLC employees. The actions are intended to undermine the integrity of the Fee though disrupting the helpful features [on the NLC] and leading to insurmountable reputational harm into the Commission because the custodian of private data entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

His request for that SSA to investigate was supported within an affidavit by suspended NLC business secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.

Nene is now dealing with a disciplinary inquiry just after she was unsuccessful in legal action to put aside conclusions of irregular expenditure on her watch.

The objective of her affidavit, Nene claimed, was “to history the occasions which transpired associated with facts stability breaches at the Countrywide Lotteries Fee”.

She mentioned many information stories which she claimed ended up the final results of those “breaches” (see at the end of this informative article).

Nene stated that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that certainly one of its employees, Sello Qhino, had “supplied her categorised NLC Data and persistently inspired her to supply the data to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle on the number of dodgy lottery-funded jobs in Kuruman soon after tries to raise the issue internally have been disregarded, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an eighteen November 2018 post while in the Each day Dispatch concerning the misappropriation of Lottery money, Nene mentioned that the NLC recognized after which suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an worker within the NLC’s East London Place of work, who was the spouse and also the mom of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s 3 youngsters.

Rungqu and Makatse believe Rungqu was punished because Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and charged internally, Using the NLC expending R470,000 on attorneys to stand for it, but was identified not responsible and permitted to return to work.

“The widespread Think about these posts is the fact [they involve] categorized data regarding proactive funding jobs,” Nene said in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out from the loved ones property to take the heat off her and his children. Facing homelessness, he moved into an office within an empty manufacturing unit belonging to a colleague.

The two Makatse and Qhino are participating in an NLC reparation system intended to recognise the hurt a number of people suffered for the hands with the NLC. Apologies and, in some cases, fiscal payment are expected.

“Some men and women were being actually influenced pretty negatively by this … This is basically unpleasant,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz advised the Each day Maverick past calendar year.

“I achieved two or three these individuals. It absolutely was just so coronary heart-wrenching that their complete lives happen to be turned the other way up,” claimed Scholtz.

Between Individuals she met were being Qhino and Makatse.

Safe and sound platform desired for whistleblowers
The SSA located the absence at the time of a suitable channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to show for the media.

“Failure to possess a dedicated anti-corruption channel will cause employees presenting these kinds of conditions outside of the NLC,” the SSA mentioned in its results.

“Supplied the magnitude of corruption in point out establishments, it continues to be crucial that it ensures that the NLC complies with all security prescripts Which its focus is on ensuring that unlawful and irregular carry out is adequately mitigated towards and by ensuring an adequate channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward perform devoid of currently being intimidated.”

It advised that the NLC create a “Protected channel” for workers to supply info on any “untoward activity” that may not avoid or discourage employees from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers coverage, dependant on the Secured Disclosures Act twenty five of 2000, is often a prerequisite.”

Media stories Nene stated
A ten December 2017 report while in the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Overall health and Health Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has worked intently with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and proprietor from the Limpopo Mirror, to show NLC corruption. “The short article had features of knowledge not available in the general public area, thereby increasing concern on inner Information safety breaches. The allegations during the media had been independently investigated,” Nene claimed. “Nevertheless, personnel liable for divulging classified details have nevertheless to be identified”;
A 28 January 2018 article posted with the Dally Dispatch “citing quite a few allegations from your Limpopo Mirror short article published on 10 December 2017 plus a new allegation regarding a previous staff via the name of Mzukisi Makatse. He was charged and summarily dismissed for your threat brought on for the organisation.”
A 16 November 2018 article in the Lowvelder concerning the misappropriation of NLC funds involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has claimed how, Regardless of getting R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab hasn't been finished. “The Lowvelder short article contained classified facts with regards to NLC plan, elevating even further issues of inside information and facts security breaches,” Nene explained in her affidavit. “The prima facie proof regarding these allegations did not warrant an unbiased Investigation, nevertheless [it] highlighted the heightened facts stability risks inside the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a few dodgy R27.five-million grant to Denzhe Main Treatment, a hijacked NPO. Nene said GroundUp experienced verified in its Tale that it had been according to leaked NLC documents. This was Regardless of the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Marketing of Usage of Details) ask for for particulars regarding the project, she claimed