Lottery bosses turned to Point out Safety Agency to research leaks

Lottery bosses turned to Point out Safety Agency to research leaks

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Former National Lotteries Fee (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda asked the Condition Stability Agency (SSA) in December 2018 to investigate the leaking of files that exposed lottery corruption.
The NLC’s organization secretary at enough time outlined media reviews she claimed were being determined by “stolen” information within an affidavit with the SSA.
The SSA did examine. It discovered the knowledge wasn't a subject of point out safety and which the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “ample motive” for your media to expose it.
A new board and administration has due to the fact taken in excess of the NLC and To date have taken actions to finish corruption within the institution.
A Point out Stability Company (SSA) investigation discovered which the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “provided enough motive” for publicity from the media.

The probe into intended “info protection breaches and sabotage of NLC operations” was undertaken 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 now suspended NLC business secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the ask for, and
the security company’s “confidential” findings and proposals.
Nevhutanda asked the SSA to research the function of NLC team inside the alleged leaking of knowledge, and Nene, in her affidavit discovered specific media and experiences that she claimed concerned these leaks.

Inside the letter outlining its conclusions, the SSA advised the NLC that while defending state information was “a authorized critical targeted at safeguarding the sovereignty and integrity in the condition” this only applied to appropriately categorized info.

Even though it didn't say so immediately, the SSA results implied which the allegedly leaked details didn't slide into this classification.

Drastically, the SSA built it distinct that the need to safeguard condition facts “would not prevent any person from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or illegal activity”.

The SSA investigation discovered that the NLC information linked to the alleged breach was “delicate and privileged in nature, although not labeled regarding the prescripts in the Minimum Information and facts Protection Requirements (Pass up)”.

“The leakage in the relevant sensitive Formal NLC information on the media does not pose a risk to nationwide stability,” the SSA stated, including the impression of the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report identified “no evidence of a factual and incriminating nature towards any in the suspected NLC staff that can be determined from the knowledge and info interrogated”.

Furthermore, it said that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities within the NLC and at its beneficiaries does deliver sufficient motive to possess such uncovered within the media”.

Conspiracy promises
In 2020, Nevhutanda informed MPs throughout a session of Parliament’s trade, marketplace and Competitiveness portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” in which data “stolen” within the NLC was sent for the US, wherever he claimed it absolutely was becoming offered to fund a smear campaign in opposition to the NLC.

He was repeating related statements he had Formerly created in Parliament, which incorporated ad hominem attacks on GroundUp which reporter but was thorough not to name both.

“I came right here In this particular August household past year and documented to honourable customers that information about our beneficiaries is stolen and set in a single state in the usa,” he advised MPs.

“We known as over the State Security Company to come check into the make any difference simply because we are having stories that our details is producing revenue for media platforms and journalists,” he explained. “There have been speak, needless to say from one source, a person media, that spoke A lot about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda mentioned (referring to GroundUp), but failed to convey to MPs which the SSA investigation had been done Practically a calendar year earlier.

Proactive funding was at the center on the looting in the lottery. It aspect-stepped the traditional grant system. The NLC could alone determine a project to fund and appoint a non-revenue organisation to oversee it.

Immediately after Nevhutanda first informed Parliament in 2018 that he had questioned the SSA to analyze the supposed breach, the South African National Editors Forum issued an announcement indicating that his remarks mirrored “an extremely hazardous Perspective the place the media is currently being blamed to the NLC’s inherent issues”.

“Rather than investigating why hundreds of thousands can not be accounted for, the NLC has as an alternative attempted to Forged doubt to the integrity of your journalists concerned and it has requested the SSA to research their resources.”

Proactive projects made mystery
Stability flaws identified while in the NLC grant funding process throughout the SSA’s investigation, seem to are made use of being an justification with the NLC to get rid of all proactive-funded assignments from its central grants program.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all pro-actively funding jobs was heightened to ‘solution’ and assignments had been faraway from the grant funding process and taken care of manually underneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Data Place of work, Govt Manager Authorized to be able to safeguard [the] facts,” Nene stated in her affidavit.

“There was many internal discussion, with a great deal of forwards and backwards, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a resource, who was inside a senior placement with the NLC at enough time, explained to GroundUp. “Eventually, the choice was taken to get rid of the many proactive initiatives with the process and limit access to A few persons”.

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

Maselwa, who resigned from the NLC quite a few several years ago, has long been implicated in corruption involving lottery money. He received R4.3-million from lottery cash allotted to create a library and museum complex in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Audio and Arts Expo) which he made use of to construct a property within an upmarket gated development in Pretoria. The home is one of many compensated for with lottery cash which were frozen once the Asset Forfeiture Device received a preservation buy in December 2022.

The politically-linked Nevhutanda, who was appointed since the NLC board chairperson by former President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was close to high-ups in the ANC Management, former NLC former Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-Main working officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated in the corruption which confused the NLC on their watch.

Also implicated are previous board members William Huma, who resigned just after he was confronted with evidence of how he experienced profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, that has since died.

Each time a new administration, such as the complete board and government, took over with the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they found out a “chaotic mess” inside the documentation regarding proactive funding, much of which was paper-primarily based. Crucial paperwork have been missing. Information held for safekeeping by document storage business Metrofile were signed out and never returned.

The NLC was in a position to recover copies of some fox888 paperwork from its Mimecast e mail archiving process as well as laptops in their assistants and guidance team.

Information stories
In his 1 December 2018 letter, addressed to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has noted with grave issue doable facts safety breaches along with the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of confidential information and facts acquired on account of undertaking Formal capabilities in the Fee by NLC staff. The things to do are meant to undermine the integrity on the Commission while disrupting the effective capabilities [in the NLC] and creating insurmountable reputational damage to the Fee because the custodian of non-public facts entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

His ask for for the SSA to investigate was supported in an affidavit by suspended NLC enterprise secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.

Nene is presently going through a disciplinary inquiry just after she was unsuccessful in legal action to set aside results of irregular expenditure on her watch.

The purpose of her affidavit, Nene mentioned, was “to record the gatherings which transpired relating to details protection breaches with the Nationwide Lotteries Commission”.

She mentioned a variety of news stories which she claimed have been the outcome of such “breaches” (see at the end of this short article).

Nene said that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that considered one of its employees, Sello Qhino, had “supplied her categorized NLC Facts and persistently inspired her to deliver the data to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle with a number of dodgy lottery-funded jobs in Kuruman following attempts to lift The difficulty internally ended up overlooked, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an 18 November 2018 post within the Every day Dispatch with regards to the misappropriation of Lottery resources, Nene mentioned that the NLC determined then suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an worker from the NLC’s East London Place of work, who was the husband or wife along with the mom of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s a few kids.

Rungqu and Makatse imagine Rungqu was punished for the reason that Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and billed internally, Using the NLC paying R470,000 on lawyers to symbolize it, but was identified not guilty and permitted to return to operate.

“The widespread Consider these content articles is [they include] categorised data referring to proactive funding initiatives,” Nene reported in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out of your household home to take the warmth off her and his children. Going through homelessness, he moved into an office in an empty manufacturing facility belonging to a colleague.

Both Makatse and Qhino are participating in an NLC reparation method intended to recognise the harm a number of people endured with the fingers in the NLC. Apologies and, in some instances, economic compensation are envisioned.

“Some persons have been actually affected incredibly negatively by this … This is absolutely painful,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz instructed the Every day Maverick past year.

“I fulfilled a couple of these persons. It absolutely was just so heart-wrenching that their complete life have been turned upside down,” mentioned Scholtz.

Between those she met had been Qhino and Makatse.

Risk-free platform necessary for whistleblowers
The SSA located the absence at enough time of a correct channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn to the media.

“Failure to possess a committed anti-corruption channel will cause personnel presenting this sort of instances beyond the NLC,” the SSA explained in its findings.

“Specified the magnitude of corruption in condition establishments, it remains very important that it makes sure that the NLC complies with all stability prescripts and that its emphasis is on making sure that illegal and irregular carry out is sufficiently mitigated versus and by ensuring an ample channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward perform without getting intimidated.”

It encouraged which the NLC create a “Harmless channel” for workers to offer info on any “untoward action” that might not avoid or discourage staff from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers policy, according to the Protected Disclosures Act twenty five of 2000, is often a necessity.”

Media reports Nene mentioned
A 10 December 2017 report in the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Health and fitness and Health Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has labored closely with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and proprietor of the Limpopo Mirror, to reveal NLC corruption. “The posting had factors of data not available in the public domain, thereby elevating worry on inside Information and facts security breaches. The allegations within the media had been independently investigated,” Nene mentioned. “Even so, staff members to blame for divulging labeled data have but for being identified”;
A 28 January 2018 article posted with the Dally Dispatch “citing several allegations from the Limpopo Mirror report printed on ten December 2017 and a new allegation regarding a previous worker via the name of Mzukisi Makatse. He was billed and summarily dismissed for that risk triggered to the organisation.”
A sixteen November 2018 write-up during the Lowvelder with regards to the misappropriation of NLC funds involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has documented how, Despite acquiring R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has never been completed. “The Lowvelder post contained classified info regarding NLC policy, raising further more problems of inner info stability breaches,” Nene mentioned in her affidavit. “The prima facie proof with regard to these allegations didn't warrant an unbiased Investigation, on the other hand [it] highlighted the heightened info protection dangers throughout the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose about a dodgy R27.five-million grant to Denzhe Main Care, a hijacked NPO. Nene said GroundUp had confirmed in its story that it had been according to leaked NLC paperwork. This was Regardless of the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Marketing of Use of Information and facts) ask for for aspects regarding the task, she explained

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