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 Fee (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda asked the Condition Safety Company (SSA) in December 2018 to research the leaking of files that exposed lottery corruption.
The NLC’s business secretary at some time listed media stories she reported have been depending on “stolen” information and facts within an affidavit for that SSA.
The SSA did examine. It located the knowledge wasn't a make any difference of condition safety and which the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “enough motive” for that media to expose it.
A different board and administration has because taken over the NLC and thus far have taken measures to finish corruption for the institution.
A Point out Security Company (SSA) investigation located 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 “information and facts protection breaches and sabotage of NLC functions” was carried out immediately after then-NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda wrote for the SSA in December 2018 requesting it to analyze.

Here's

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by now suspended NLC enterprise secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the request, and
the security agency’s “confidential” conclusions and proposals.
Nevhutanda requested the SSA to investigate the part of NLC staff members within the alleged leaking of information, and Nene, in her affidavit determined distinct media and reviews that she claimed concerned these leaks.

Within the letter outlining its conclusions, the SSA advised the NLC that when preserving condition information was “a lawful crucial targeted at shielding the sovereignty and integrity in the state” this only placed on properly categorized details.

Although it did not say so straight, the SSA findings implied which the allegedly leaked facts did not fall into this classification.

Significantly, the SSA built it apparent that the necessity to safeguard point out information “isn't going to prevent any specific from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminality”.

The SSA investigation located the NLC information and facts associated with the alleged breach was “sensitive and privileged in nature, but not categorized when it comes to the prescripts with the Least Information Safety Benchmarks (Skip)”.

“The leakage with the applicable delicate official NLC information on the media does not pose a risk to countrywide safety,” the SSA reported, adding which the affect of your breaches was reputational.

The SSA report located “no proof of the factual and incriminating mother nature towards any of your suspected NLC staff which could be determined from the knowledge and information interrogated”.

It also said that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities inside the NLC and at its beneficiaries does offer enough motive to get these types of exposed during the media”.

Conspiracy promises
In 2020, Nevhutanda told MPs all through a session of Parliament’s trade, industry and competition portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” in which info “stolen” within the NLC was sent to the US, where by he claimed it was remaining bought to fund a smear campaign in opposition to the NLC.

He was repeating similar promises he experienced Beforehand made in Parliament, which involved advert hominem attacks on GroundUp which reporter but was careful not to call either.

“I arrived listed here In this particular August residence final calendar year and documented to honourable associates that details about our beneficiaries is stolen and set in one condition in the usa,” he advised MPs.

“We named within the State Stability Agency to come back check into the matter due to the fact we are obtaining studies that our facts is generating funds for media platforms and journalists,” he explained. “There was converse, not surprisingly from a person supply, one particular media, that spoke Considerably about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda mentioned (referring to GroundUp), but failed to convey to MPs the SSA investigation were done Just about a year before.

Proactive funding was at the center of the looting with the lottery. It facet-stepped the conventional grant system. The NLC could alone detect a project to fund and appoint a non-earnings organisation to oversee it.

After Nevhutanda initially explained to Parliament in 2018 that he experienced questioned the SSA to analyze the meant breach, the South African Countrywide Editors Discussion board issued a statement indicating that his remarks reflected “an extremely risky Perspective where by the media is getting blamed for the NLC’s inherent challenges”.

“Rather then investigating why tens of millions can't be accounted for, the NLC has rather tried to Forged doubt over the integrity on the journalists associated and it has questioned the SSA to analyze their resources.”

Proactive initiatives created top secret
Safety flaws determined during the NLC grant funding procedure over the SSA’s investigation, seem to happen to be used as an justification because of the NLC to remove all proactive-funded projects from its central grants procedure.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all Professional-actively funding jobs was heightened to ‘secret’ and assignments ended up faraway from the grant funding process and managed manually under the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Information and facts Workplace, Executive Manager Legal in an effort to safeguard [the] data,” Nene claimed in her affidavit.

“There was many inner dialogue, with a lot of forwards and backwards, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a source, who was in the senior placement at the NLC at enough time, told GroundUp. “Ultimately, the choice was taken to get rid of each of the proactive initiatives from the procedure and Restrict use of a handful of folks”.

Some in that handful of people were implicated in corruption.

Maselwa, who resigned with the NLC numerous decades ago, has actually been implicated in corruption involving lottery money. He been given R4.three-million from lottery funds allocated to develop a library and museum complex in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Songs and Arts Expo) which he employed to create a household within an upmarket gated growth in Pretoria. The residence is one of numerous paid for with lottery funds which were frozen following the Asset Forfeiture Unit attained a preservation buy in December 2022.

The politically-connected Nevhutanda, who was appointed because the NLC board chairperson by previous President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was near to higher-ups in the ANC leadership, previous NLC former Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-Main operating officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated during the corruption which overwhelmed the NLC on their own look at.

Also implicated are former board associates William Huma, who resigned right after he was confronted with proof of how he had profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, who may have due to the fact died.

When a new administration, including the overall board and govt, took around in the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they identified a “chaotic mess” while in the documentation concerning proactive funding, much of which was paper-based. Important documents were being lacking. Documents held for safekeeping by document storage company Metrofile were signed out and hardly ever returned.

The NLC was ready to Get well copies of some ตรวจ หวย ย้อน หลัง paperwork from its Mimecast e mail archiving process as well as laptops of their assistants and assistance team.

Information stories
In his 1 December 2018 letter, addressed to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has pointed out with grave worry feasible info protection breaches and also the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of private facts obtained on account of accomplishing official features within the Commission by NLC employees. The routines are meant to undermine the integrity in the Fee even though disrupting the effective features [in the NLC] and triggering insurmountable reputational damage on the Commission as the custodian of private information entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

His ask for with the SSA to research was supported in an affidavit by suspended NLC company secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.

Nene is at this time experiencing a disciplinary inquiry soon after she was unsuccessful in legal motion to put aside findings of irregular expenditure on her check out.

The purpose of her affidavit, Nene reported, was “to report the occasions which transpired concerning data stability breaches for the National Lotteries Commission”.

She mentioned different news studies which she claimed were being the outcomes of those “breaches” (see at the end of this information).

Nene explained that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that one of its workers, Sello Qhino, had “supplied her classified NLC Info and persistently inspired her to supply the data to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle on the number of dodgy lottery-funded initiatives in Kuruman soon after attempts to boost the issue internally ended up ignored, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an 18 November 2018 article inside the Every day Dispatch about the misappropriation of Lottery resources, Nene stated the NLC determined and after that suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an personnel during the NLC’s East London office, who was the spouse as well as the mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s three kids.

Rungqu and Makatse think Rungqu was punished simply because Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and charged internally, with the NLC investing R470,000 on lawyers to signify it, but was found not responsible and allowed to return to work.

“The common Consider these posts is that [they require] classified data relating to proactive funding assignments,” Nene reported in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out in the relatives home to take the warmth off her and his children. Going through homelessness, he moved into an Business within an empty factory belonging to a buddy.

Both equally Makatse and Qhino are taking part in an NLC reparation system meant to recognise the harm some individuals experienced for the fingers from the NLC. Apologies and, occasionally, money compensation are predicted.

“Some people were seriously affected pretty negatively by this … This is admittedly unpleasant,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz instructed the Everyday Maverick past yr.

“I fulfilled a few these men and women. It absolutely was just so coronary heart-wrenching that their full lives have already been turned the wrong way up,” explained Scholtz.

Among Individuals she satisfied were Qhino and Makatse.

Secure platform required for whistleblowers
The SSA identified the absence at enough time of an appropriate channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn on the media.

“Failure to possess a devoted anti-corruption channel will bring about workforce presenting these types of situations beyond the NLC,” the SSA mentioned in its findings.

“Given the magnitude of corruption in point out institutions, it stays critical that it ensures that the NLC complies with all protection prescripts and that its focus is on making sure that illegal and irregular carry out is sufficiently mitigated versus and by guaranteeing an adequate channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward carry out without having getting intimidated.”

It recommended that the NLC create a “Secure channel” for employees to provide info on any “untoward action” that would not avert or discourage personnel from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers policy, determined by the Protected Disclosures Act twenty five of 2000, is really a prerequisite.”

Media reviews Nene outlined
A ten December 2017 report inside the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Wellness and Health Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has labored carefully with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and proprietor of the Limpopo Mirror, to expose NLC corruption. “The report experienced things of knowledge not accessible in the general public area, therefore raising concern on inner Details safety breaches. The allegations inside the media have been independently investigated,” Nene mentioned. “Even so, staff answerable for divulging classified information have yet being identified”;
A 28 January 2018 report posted with the Dally Dispatch “citing many allegations with the Limpopo Mirror article revealed on ten December 2017 along with a new allegation associated with a previous personnel because of the identify of Mzukisi Makatse. He was billed and summarily dismissed for your menace caused for the organisation.”
A 16 November 2018 write-up during the Lowvelder in regards to the misappropriation of NLC resources involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has described how, Regardless of getting R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has not been accomplished. “The Lowvelder write-up contained categorized info when it comes to NLC policy, boosting even more considerations of interior details stability breaches,” Nene said in her affidavit. “The prima facie evidence regarding these allegations didn't warrant an unbiased Investigation, nevertheless [it] highlighted the heightened data protection threats within 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 experienced verified in its story that it had been based upon leaked NLC paperwork. This was despite the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Promotion of Usage of Information and facts) request for specifics regarding the venture, she said