Lottery bosses turned to Condition Safety Agency to investigate leaks

Lottery bosses turned to Condition Safety Agency to investigate leaks

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Previous Nationwide Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda questioned the Point out Security Agency (SSA) in December 2018 to investigate the leaking of documents that uncovered lottery corruption.
The NLC’s firm secretary at enough time stated media reports she stated were determined by “stolen” facts in an affidavit for the SSA.
The SSA did look into. It located the information wasn't a issue of point out protection and which the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “sufficient motive” with the media to reveal it.
A brand new board and management has because taken about the NLC and So far have taken actions to finish corruption within the establishment.
A State Safety Agency (SSA) investigation located the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “delivered enough motive” for publicity by the media.

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

Here is

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by currently suspended NLC enterprise secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the request, and
the security agency’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 informed the NLC that even though preserving state info was “a authorized critical targeted at preserving the sovereignty and integrity of your point out” this only placed on properly categorized details.

Although it didn't say so specifically, the SSA findings implied which the allegedly leaked information and facts did not fall into this group.

Drastically, the SSA created it distinct that the necessity to shield point out details “does not avert any person from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminal activity”.

The SSA investigation found that the NLC data linked to the alleged breach was “delicate and privileged in nature, but not categorized regarding the prescripts of your Minimum amount Information Security Criteria (Miss out on)”.

“The leakage of the pertinent delicate Formal NLC info for the media isn't going to pose a danger to national security,” the SSA explained, including the affect with the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report uncovered “no evidence of a factual and incriminating mother nature from any on the suspected NLC staff members which could be recognized from the information and details interrogated”.

In addition it stated that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities within the NLC and at its beneficiaries does deliver sufficient motive to obtain these kinds of uncovered inside the media”.

Conspiracy statements
In 2020, Nevhutanda explained to MPs through a session of Parliament’s trade, field and Competitiveness portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” through which information and facts “stolen” within the NLC was despatched to your US, wherever he claimed it had been getting sold to fund a smear marketing campaign from the NLC.

He was repeating equivalent promises he had Earlier designed in Parliament, which involved advertisement hominem attacks on GroundUp and this reporter but was careful not to name both.

“I came in this article On this August household past year and noted to honourable associates that details about our beneficiaries has become stolen and place in one state in the usa,” he explained to MPs.

“We termed over the Condition Safety Company to come back investigate the make a difference simply because we've been receiving reviews that our information and facts is creating cash for media platforms and journalists,” he reported. “There's been communicate, needless to say from a person source, one particular media, that spoke much about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda mentioned (referring to GroundUp), but did not notify MPs which the SSA investigation were done almost a year earlier.

Proactive funding was at the heart of the looting from the lottery. It side-stepped the traditional grant system. The NLC could alone establish a task to fund and appoint a non-income organisation to oversee it.

Following Nevhutanda first instructed Parliament in 2018 that he had questioned the SSA to investigate the meant breach, the South African National Editors Discussion board issued a press release declaring that his remarks mirrored “an especially perilous Perspective where by the media is getting blamed for that NLC’s inherent problems”.

“As an alternative to investigating why tens of millions cannot be accounted for, the NLC has as an alternative attempted to cast doubt around the integrity on the journalists associated and it has asked the SSA to research their resources.”

Proactive initiatives made key
Safety flaws determined from the NLC grant funding procedure during the SSA’s investigation, appear to happen to be utilized being an justification with the NLC to remove all proactive-funded projects from its central grants system.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all Professional-actively funding tasks was heightened to ‘secret’ and jobs have been faraway from the grant funding technique and maintained manually beneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Information Office environment, Executive Manager Authorized to be able to safeguard [the] data,” Nene said in her affidavit.

“There was plenty of inside dialogue, with lots of back and forth, about what to do to plug the alleged leaks”, a source, who was inside a senior placement with the NLC at enough time, instructed GroundUp. “In the long run, the decision was taken to remove all the proactive projects from the procedure and Restrict access to A few men and women”.

Some in that handful of individuals were implicated in corruption.

Maselwa, who resigned within the NLC many many years back, is implicated in corruption involving lottery resources. He obtained R4.three-million from lottery resources allocated to create a library and museum complex in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Audio and Arts Expo) which he made use of to build a property within an upmarket gated enhancement in Pretoria. The property is one of several compensated for with lottery resources that were frozen after the Asset Forfeiture Unit acquired a preservation buy in December 2022.

The politically-related Nevhutanda, who was appointed as being the NLC board chairperson by previous President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was near significant-ups inside the ANC leadership, previous NLC previous Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-chief working officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated within the corruption which confused the NLC on their look at.

Also implicated are previous board associates 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 since died.

Every time a new administration, including the complete board and government, took above with the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they found out a “chaotic mess” within the documentation relating to proactive funding, Substantially of which was paper-centered. Crucial documents were lacking. Documents held for safekeeping by document storage business Metrofile were signed out and never ever returned.

The NLC was capable to recover copies of some ตรวจ หวย ล่าสุด paperwork from its Mimecast e mail archiving system and also the laptops in their assistants and assistance personnel.

Information experiences
In his 1 December 2018 letter, tackled to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has observed with grave problem feasible information and facts protection breaches as well as unauthorised use and/or dissemination of confidential information and facts acquired on account of doing official features within the Fee by NLC personnel. The things to do are meant to undermine the integrity of your Fee although disrupting the successful capabilities [of your NLC] and creating insurmountable reputational damage to the Commission since the custodian of non-public details entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

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

Nene is presently struggling with a disciplinary inquiry soon after she was unsuccessful in legal action to put aside findings of irregular expenditure on her look at.

The purpose of her affidavit, Nene mentioned, was “to history the occasions which transpired regarding information and facts security breaches on the Nationwide Lotteries Commission”.

She shown several information stories which she claimed ended up the effects of such “breaches” (see at the conclusion of this article).

Nene said that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that certainly one of its workers, Sello Qhino, experienced “furnished her categorized NLC Info and persistently inspired her to supply the data to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle on a number of dodgy lottery-funded projects in Kuruman just after attempts to boost The difficulty internally have been overlooked, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an eighteen November 2018 write-up during the Everyday Dispatch about the misappropriation of Lottery money, Nene explained the NLC discovered and after that suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an employee inside the NLC’s East London Business office, who was the husband or wife and the mom of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s three children.

Rungqu and Makatse believe Rungqu was punished because Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and billed internally, With all the NLC spending R470,000 on attorneys to signify it, but was observed not guilty and allowed to return to operate.

“The common Consider these article content is always that [they contain] classified details regarding proactive funding jobs,” Nene stated in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out in the household household 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 participating in an NLC reparation system intended to recognise the hurt lots of people experienced on the arms on the NLC. Apologies and, in some cases, fiscal payment are anticipated.

“Some persons had been seriously affected really negatively by this … This is admittedly painful,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz informed the Day-to-day Maverick past calendar year.

“I achieved a couple of these people. It was just so coronary heart-wrenching that their full life are turned the wrong way up,” explained Scholtz.

Amongst These she met were being Qhino and Makatse.

Risk-free platform desired for whistleblowers
The SSA observed the absence at the time of an appropriate channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn to your media.

“Failure to have a committed anti-corruption channel will result in personnel presenting such scenarios beyond the NLC,” the SSA stated in its results.

“Supplied the magnitude of corruption in point out establishments, it continues to be essential that it ensures that the NLC complies with all safety prescripts and that its target is on making certain that illegal and irregular conduct is adequately mitigated against and by making sure an suitable channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward perform devoid of currently being intimidated.”

It advisable that the NLC build a “Risk-free channel” for employees to offer information on any “untoward exercise” that might not prevent or discourage staff members from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers policy, dependant on the Guarded Disclosures Act twenty five of 2000, is a prerequisite.”

Media experiences Nene outlined
A 10 December 2017 report from the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Well being and Health Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has labored carefully with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and proprietor on the Limpopo Mirror, to reveal NLC corruption. “The report had factors of information not obtainable in the public area, therefore raising issue on inside Data safety breaches. The allegations in the media were being independently investigated,” Nene explained. “Nonetheless, employees chargeable for divulging categorized information and facts have but to be recognized”;
A 28 January 2018 short article published with the Dally Dispatch “citing numerous allegations from your Limpopo Mirror report released on ten December 2017 and a new allegation relating to a former staff by the identify of Mzukisi Makatse. He was billed and summarily dismissed for that menace triggered for the organisation.”
A 16 November 2018 article during the Lowvelder with regard to the misappropriation of NLC cash involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has noted how, Despite getting R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab hasn't been accomplished. “The Lowvelder article contained labeled info concerning NLC policy, elevating further more considerations of inside information and 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 and facts stability threats throughout the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a few dodgy R27.five-million grant to Denzhe Principal Care, a hijacked NPO. Nene stated GroundUp experienced verified in its story that it absolutely was dependant on leaked NLC paperwork. This was despite the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Advertising of Entry to Information) ask for for specifics concerning the challenge, she explained