Lottery bosses turned to Point out Protection Company to analyze leaks

Lottery bosses turned to Point out Protection Company to analyze leaks

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Former Countrywide Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda requested the Point out Stability Company (SSA) in December 2018 to investigate the leaking of documents that uncovered lottery corruption.
The NLC’s organization secretary at time shown media stories she claimed were being according to “stolen” info within an affidavit for that SSA.
The SSA did investigate. It discovered the data was not a matter of point out safety and which the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “ample motive” with the media to expose it.
A new board and management has because taken about the NLC and thus far have taken actions to finish corruption within the institution.
A State Safety Agency (SSA) investigation observed which the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “provided ample motive” for exposure from the media.

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

Here is

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by at this time suspended NLC enterprise secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the request, and
the safety company’s “private” conclusions and suggestions.
Nevhutanda questioned the SSA to analyze the function of NLC personnel within the alleged leaking of knowledge, and Nene, in her affidavit identified distinct media and stories that she claimed involved these leaks.

Inside the letter outlining its findings, the SSA advised the NLC that although defending state information and facts was “a legal very important directed at preserving the sovereignty and integrity from the condition” this only placed on appropriately categorised information and facts.

Even though it didn't say so instantly, the SSA findings implied the allegedly leaked information did not tumble into this group.

Noticeably, the SSA designed it obvious that the need to protect point out data “will not stop any unique from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminal activity”.

The SSA investigation found the NLC information and facts associated with the alleged breach was “delicate and privileged in mother nature, although not classified in terms of the prescripts on the Minimum amount Info Safety Criteria (MISS)”.

“The leakage from the pertinent sensitive official NLC information to the media doesn't pose a danger to countrywide protection,” the SSA explained, including that the effects with the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report located “no proof of a factual and incriminating mother nature in opposition to any from the suspected NLC employees that would be recognized from the knowledge and information interrogated”.

In addition it stated that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities in the NLC and at its beneficiaries does deliver ample motive to own these types of uncovered inside the media”.

Conspiracy statements
In 2020, Nevhutanda advised MPs during a session of Parliament’s trade, business and Competitiveness portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” through which facts “stolen” with the NLC was sent for the US, exactly where he claimed it absolutely was remaining offered to fund a smear marketing campaign from the NLC.

He was repeating related claims he had previously designed in Parliament, which incorporated advert hominem attacks on GroundUp and this reporter but was very careful not to name both.

“I arrived here With this August house previous 12 months and reported to honourable members that information regarding our beneficiaries has long been stolen and set in a single point out in the usa,” he explained to MPs.

“We termed on the Point out Protection Agency to come consider the make a difference since we are having stories that our data is generating revenue for media platforms and journalists,” he claimed. “There has been communicate, needless to say from 1 supply, one media, that spoke Considerably about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda said (referring to GroundUp), but failed to explain to MPs which the SSA investigation were finished Practically a 12 months before.

Proactive funding was at the guts of the looting from the lottery. It side-stepped the normal grant method. The NLC could itself recognize a undertaking to fund and appoint a non-income organisation to oversee it.

Following Nevhutanda first told Parliament in 2018 that he experienced asked the SSA to analyze the intended breach, the South African National Editors Forum issued a statement expressing that his remarks reflected “a very hazardous Mind-set where by the media is staying blamed with the NLC’s inherent troubles”.

“As opposed to investigating why thousands and thousands cannot be accounted for, the NLC has rather made an effort to Solid question about the integrity in the journalists included and it has questioned the SSA to investigate their sources.”

Proactive initiatives designed top secret
Stability flaws discovered in the NLC grant funding procedure over the SSA’s investigation, surface to have already been employed being an justification because of the NLC to eliminate all proactive-funded initiatives from its central grants method.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all pro-actively funding tasks was heightened to ‘solution’ and initiatives have been faraway from the grant funding procedure and preserved manually beneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Information Office environment, Government Manager Lawful as a way to safeguard [the] info,” Nene explained in her affidavit.

“There was loads of internal discussion, with a great deal of forwards and backwards, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a source, who was in a very senior posture in the NLC at some time, instructed GroundUp. “Ultimately, the choice was taken to remove many of the proactive assignments from the technique and Restrict access to A few folks”.

Some in that handful of folks were implicated in corruption.

Maselwa, who resigned through the NLC quite a few a long time in the past, has long been implicated in corruption involving lottery funds. He obtained R4.3-million from lottery funds allocated to build a library and museum complicated in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Songs and Arts Expo) which he utilized to construct a home in an upmarket gated growth in Pretoria. The assets is among several compensated for with lottery money which were frozen following the Asset Forfeiture Device acquired a preservation order in December 2022.

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

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 may have because died.

Each time a new administration, including the whole board and executive, took over at the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they discovered a “chaotic mess” during the documentation concerning proactive funding, Substantially of which was paper-based mostly. Crucial files ended up missing. Documents held for safekeeping by document storage corporation Metrofile had been signed out and under no circumstances returned.

The NLC was capable of Get better copies of some หวย ลาว ล่าสุด documents from its Mimecast electronic mail archiving process along with the laptops of their assistants and aid personnel.

News stories
In his 1 December 2018 letter, resolved to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has noted with grave worry possible data security breaches along with the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of private information acquired due to accomplishing Formal capabilities in the Commission by NLC workers. The routines are intended to undermine the integrity in the Commission whilst disrupting the efficient functions [of your NLC] and producing insurmountable reputational hurt on the Commission as the custodian of private details 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 currently experiencing a disciplinary inquiry following she was unsuccessful in authorized motion to set aside findings of irregular expenditure on her enjoy.

The goal of her affidavit, Nene mentioned, was “to report the events which transpired associated with facts stability breaches within the Countrywide Lotteries Fee”.

She mentioned various information reports which she claimed were the results of such “breaches” (see at the conclusion of this information).

Nene claimed that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that considered one of its personnel, Sello Qhino, had “delivered her categorized NLC Info and persistently inspired her to provide the knowledge to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle on a series of dodgy lottery-funded jobs in Kuruman soon after tries to raise The problem internally were being ignored, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an 18 November 2018 short article in the Everyday Dispatch with regard to the misappropriation of Lottery funds, Nene stated that the NLC identified and after that suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an worker within the NLC’s East London Business office, who was the spouse as well as the mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s a few little ones.

Rungqu and Makatse imagine Rungqu was punished due to the fact Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and billed internally, Along with the NLC shelling out R470,000 on legal professionals to depict it, but was discovered not guilty and permitted to return to operate.

“The frequent Think about these posts is the fact [they involve] categorized data concerning proactive funding projects,” Nene mentioned in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out on the relatives dwelling to go ahead and take heat off her and his young children. Going through homelessness, he moved into an Business office in an vacant manufacturing facility belonging to a buddy.

The two Makatse and Qhino are taking part in an NLC reparation course of action intended to recognise the harm a number of people endured with the fingers of your NLC. Apologies and, in some cases, monetary payment are predicted.

“Some people today ended up actually affected really negatively by this … This is really agonizing,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz explained to the Each day Maverick last yr.

“I satisfied several these individuals. It had been just so heart-wrenching that their entire lives have already been turned the wrong way up,” reported Scholtz.

Among the Those people she achieved ended up Qhino and Makatse.

Safe and sound System necessary for whistleblowers
The SSA found the absence at some time of a suitable channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to show on the media.

“Failure to have a focused anti-corruption channel will cause workers presenting such scenarios beyond the NLC,” the SSA explained in its conclusions.

“Offered the magnitude of corruption in condition establishments, it stays critical that it makes certain that the NLC complies with all security prescripts and that its target is on ensuring that unlawful and irregular perform is sufficiently mitigated versus and by ensuring an adequate channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward perform with out currently being intimidated.”

It encouraged the NLC set up a “Protected channel” for workers to deliver info on any “untoward action” that might not avert or discourage personnel from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers policy, based on the Secured Disclosures Act 25 of 2000, is usually a necessity.”

Media stories Nene stated
A 10 December 2017 report within the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Wellness and Physical fitness Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has labored carefully with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and proprietor of your Limpopo Mirror, to show NLC corruption. “The write-up had aspects of knowledge not readily available in the general public domain, thereby boosting issue on inside Data safety breaches. The allegations inside the media were independently investigated,” Nene said. “Having said that, staff members to blame for divulging categorized information and facts have nevertheless to be determined”;
A 28 January 2018 article revealed via the Dally Dispatch “citing quite a few allegations in the Limpopo Mirror short article posted on ten December 2017 along with a new allegation referring to a former worker through the name of Mzukisi Makatse. He was charged and summarily dismissed for the danger prompted into the organisation.”
A sixteen November 2018 report inside the Lowvelder in regards to the misappropriation of NLC money involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has reported how, Regardless of receiving R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has not been finished. “The Lowvelder posting contained categorized information regarding NLC plan, elevating even further concerns of inner facts security breaches,” Nene mentioned in her affidavit. “The prima facie evidence regarding these allegations did not warrant an impartial Investigation, on the other hand [it] highlighted the heightened information security risks within the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a few dodgy R27.five-million grant to Denzhe Key Care, a hijacked NPO. Nene mentioned GroundUp had verified in its story that it was based on leaked NLC files. This was despite the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Advertising of Use of Details) ask for for information in regards to the venture, she reported