Lottery bosses turned to State Safety Company to analyze leaks

Lottery bosses turned to State Safety Company to analyze leaks

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Previous Nationwide Lotteries Fee (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda requested the Point out Safety Company (SSA) in December 2018 to investigate the leaking of paperwork that exposed lottery corruption.
The NLC’s organization secretary at some time shown media studies she said have been according to “stolen” information and facts in an affidavit to the SSA.
The SSA did investigate. It uncovered the information was not a issue of state security and which the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “enough motive” to the media to expose it.
A fresh board and management has due to the fact taken in excess of the NLC and So far have taken measures to end corruption within the institution.
A Condition Stability Agency (SSA) investigation uncovered that the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “furnished enough motive” for exposure because of the media.

The probe into supposed “facts protection breaches and sabotage of NLC functions” was carried out following then-NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda wrote for the SSA in December 2018 requesting it to investigate.

Here is

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by presently suspended NLC business secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the ask for, and
the safety agency’s “private” results and recommendations.
Nevhutanda questioned the SSA to research the part of NLC employees during the alleged leaking of knowledge, and Nene, in her affidavit discovered precise media and reviews that she claimed associated these leaks.

Inside the letter outlining its results, the SSA told the NLC that even though protecting condition information and facts was “a legal essential targeted at protecting the sovereignty and integrity from the state” this only applied to appropriately classified info.

Although it did not say so instantly, the SSA findings implied the allegedly leaked facts did not tumble into this classification.

Considerably, the SSA produced it distinct that the necessity to safeguard state info “will not avoid any personal from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or illegal activity”.

The SSA investigation observed that the NLC facts associated with the alleged breach was “delicate and privileged in mother nature, but not categorised concerning the prescripts in the Minimum amount Information Protection Benchmarks (Miss out on)”.

“The leakage of your related sensitive official NLC details to the media does not pose a risk to countrywide security,” the SSA claimed, including the affect on the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report identified “no evidence of a factual and incriminating nature from any from the suspected NLC employees which could be recognized from the data and information interrogated”.

Additionally, it mentioned that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities inside the NLC and at its beneficiaries does provide sufficient motive to obtain these kinds of exposed from the media”.

Conspiracy promises
In 2020, Nevhutanda told MPs in the course of a session of Parliament’s trade, sector and Level of competition portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” wherein information and facts “stolen” within the NLC was sent towards the US, where he claimed it absolutely was getting sold to fund a smear marketing campaign against the NLC.

He was repeating identical claims he experienced Beforehand manufactured in Parliament, which integrated advertisement hominem assaults on GroundUp which reporter but was mindful not to call possibly.

“I arrived here With this August house final yr and described to honourable users that specifics of our beneficiaries continues to be stolen and put in a single point out in the united states,” he instructed MPs.

“We identified as to the Condition Safety Company to come back investigate the make a difference simply because we've been receiving reviews that our information is making cash for media platforms and journalists,” he reported. “There's been communicate, naturally from one supply, a person media, that spoke Significantly about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda claimed (referring to GroundUp), but didn't tell MPs that the SSA investigation had been accomplished Just about a calendar year before.

Proactive funding was at the guts of your looting of the lottery. It facet-stepped the traditional grant process. The NLC could alone detect a challenge to fund and appoint a non-gain organisation to supervise it.

Right after Nevhutanda very first informed Parliament in 2018 that he experienced asked the SSA to analyze the intended breach, the South African Countrywide Editors Forum issued a press release stating that his remarks mirrored “a particularly risky Perspective where by the media is getting blamed for that NLC’s inherent problems”.

“In lieu of investigating why millions cannot be accounted for, the NLC has as an alternative attempted to Solid doubt within the integrity on the journalists included and has asked the SSA to investigate their resources.”

Proactive jobs designed solution
Protection flaws recognized within the NLC grant funding system during the SSA’s investigation, show up to are already utilized being an excuse because of the NLC to remove all proactive-funded initiatives from its central grants method.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all Professional-actively funding jobs was heightened to ‘key’ and jobs had been removed from the grant funding process and managed manually under the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Info Business office, Govt Supervisor Authorized so as to safeguard [the] info,” Nene said in her affidavit.

“There was a lot of interior discussion, with numerous backwards and forwards, about what to do to plug the alleged leaks”, a source, who was in a very senior place in the NLC at time, advised GroundUp. “In the end, the choice was taken to remove all of the proactive projects within the system and Restrict entry to A few people today”.

Some in that handful of individuals were implicated in corruption.

Maselwa, who resigned within the NLC various many years in the past, has been implicated in corruption involving lottery money. He received R4.3-million from lottery cash allocated to make a library and museum sophisticated in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Songs and Arts Expo) which he utilized to create a property within an upmarket gated progress in Pretoria. The home is one of several paid out for with lottery funds that were frozen once the Asset Forfeiture Unit acquired a preservation order in December 2022.

The politically-linked Nevhutanda, who was appointed because the NLC board chairperson by former President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was close to significant-ups from the ANC leadership, former NLC former Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-chief operating officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated in the corruption which confused the NLC on their own observe.

Also implicated are previous board customers William Huma, who resigned immediately after he was confronted with evidence of how he had profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, who's got given that died.

Every time a new administration, including the full board and executive, took in excess of within the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they discovered a “chaotic mess” within the documentation referring to proactive funding, Significantly of which was paper-primarily based. Important documents were being lacking. Documents held for safekeeping by document storage business Metrofile had been signed out and in no way returned.

The NLC was in the position to Get better copies of some หวย ออก paperwork from its Mimecast e mail archiving method along with the laptops in their assistants and aid employees.

News studies
In his 1 December 2018 letter, tackled to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has famous with grave worry attainable facts protection breaches plus the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of confidential info obtained on account of accomplishing official functions from the Commission by NLC employees. The things to do are intended to undermine the integrity of your Commission while disrupting the productive functions [on the NLC] and causing insurmountable reputational damage into the Commission since the custodian of private information entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

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

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

The goal of her affidavit, Nene said, was “to history the situations which transpired concerning facts safety breaches in the Countrywide Lotteries Commission”.

She listed several news experiences which she claimed have been the results of those “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 “offered her labeled NLC Information and persistently encouraged her to provide the information to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle on the series of dodgy lottery-funded tasks in Kuruman soon after makes an attempt to boost The problem internally had been ignored, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an 18 November 2018 article in the Daily Dispatch about the misappropriation of Lottery resources, Nene explained that the NLC discovered and afterwards suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an employee during the NLC’s East London Business office, who was the companion as well as mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s 3 small children.

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

“The frequent Consider these articles or blog posts is the fact [they require] labeled data associated with proactive funding tasks,” Nene stated in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out of the spouse and children household to take the warmth off her and his youngsters. Facing homelessness, he moved into an Business in an empty manufacturing unit belonging to a pal.

Both of those Makatse and Qhino are participating in an NLC reparation approach meant to recognise the harm a number of people experienced within the hands from the NLC. Apologies and, in some instances, fiscal payment are predicted.

“Some men and women ended up seriously influenced quite negatively by this … This is de facto unpleasant,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz informed the Daily Maverick past 12 months.

“I satisfied a couple of these persons. It was just so coronary heart-wrenching that their entire life have already been turned the other way up,” mentioned Scholtz.

Among People she achieved had been Qhino and Makatse.

Harmless platform necessary for whistleblowers
The SSA observed the absence at some time of a proper channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn for the media.

“Failure to have a committed anti-corruption channel will end in workforce presenting such instances outside of the NLC,” the SSA said in its conclusions.

“Specified the magnitude of corruption in point out institutions, it remains crucial that it makes certain that the NLC complies with all safety prescripts and that its concentration is on making certain that illegal and irregular carry out is sufficiently mitigated from and by ensuring an suitable channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward conduct without currently being 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 usually a need.”

Media experiences Nene listed
A ten December 2017 report during the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Health and Fitness Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has labored carefully with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and owner of the Limpopo Mirror, to reveal NLC corruption. “The write-up had things of information not available in the public area, thereby boosting concern on inside Info protection breaches. The allegations within the media ended up independently investigated,” Nene said. “Even so, employees answerable for divulging labeled information have however to get determined”;
A 28 January 2018 short article posted via the Dally Dispatch “citing numerous allegations from the Limpopo Mirror article posted on 10 December 2017 in addition to a new allegation regarding a previous staff through the title of Mzukisi Makatse. He was billed and summarily dismissed with the danger prompted to the organisation.”
A sixteen November 2018 short article during the Lowvelder regarding the misappropriation of NLC resources involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has noted how, in spite of obtaining R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has never been done. “The Lowvelder short article contained categorized information when it comes to NLC coverage, boosting even more concerns of inner information and facts security breaches,” Nene claimed in her affidavit. “The prima facie evidence with regard to these allegations did not warrant an independent Investigation, on the other hand [it] highlighted the heightened information security dangers within the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose about a dodgy R27.five-million grant to Denzhe Most important Treatment, a hijacked NPO. Nene claimed GroundUp had 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 Information) ask for for particulars regarding the project, she claimed