Lottery bosses turned to Condition Protection Company to analyze leaks

Lottery bosses turned to Condition Protection Company to analyze leaks

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Previous Countrywide Lotteries Fee (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda requested the State Stability Company (SSA) in December 2018 to investigate the leaking of paperwork that exposed lottery corruption.
The NLC’s company secretary at enough time outlined media reports she explained were dependant on “stolen” data within an affidavit for the SSA.
The SSA did investigate. It located the data wasn't a matter of state safety and the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “sufficient motive” to the media to reveal it.
A different board and administration has considering the fact that taken over the NLC and thus far have taken steps to end corruption on the institution.
A Condition Safety Company (SSA) investigation observed the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “supplied enough motive” for exposure via the media.

The probe into intended “information protection breaches and sabotage of NLC functions” was undertaken just after then-NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda wrote on the SSA in December 2018 requesting it to analyze.

Here is

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by at the moment suspended NLC enterprise secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the request, and
the security agency’s “private” conclusions and suggestions.
Nevhutanda questioned the SSA to investigate the job of NLC staff members inside the alleged leaking of data, and Nene, in her affidavit identified particular media and stories that she claimed included these leaks.

While in the letter outlining its findings, the SSA informed the NLC that whilst preserving point out details was “a legal very important targeted at shielding the sovereignty and integrity in the condition” this only placed on appropriately labeled information.

Although it did not say so immediately, the SSA conclusions implied the allegedly leaked facts did not drop into this group.

Substantially, the SSA manufactured it distinct that the necessity to secure point out information “would not reduce any unique from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or illegal activity”.

The SSA investigation observed which the NLC details involved in the alleged breach was “sensitive and privileged in character, although not labeled regarding the prescripts with the Bare minimum Info Protection Specifications (Miss out on)”.

“The leakage from the suitable delicate Formal NLC info into the media doesn't pose a risk to nationwide safety,” the SSA claimed, incorporating the effects of your breaches was reputational.

The SSA report found “no proof of the factual and incriminating character towards any from the suspected NLC workers that might be identified from the data and knowledge interrogated”.

What's more, it stated that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities throughout the NLC and at its beneficiaries does give enough motive to own this kind of uncovered in the media”.

Conspiracy statements
In 2020, Nevhutanda explained to MPs for the duration of a session of Parliament’s trade, industry and Competitiveness portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” in which details “stolen” through the NLC was despatched to your US, where he claimed it absolutely was being sold to fund a smear marketing campaign versus the NLC.

He was repeating identical promises he had previously made in Parliament, which included advert hominem attacks on GroundUp which reporter but was watchful not to name possibly.

“I came in this article With this August residence past 12 months and reported to honourable customers that information about our beneficiaries has actually been stolen and put in one condition in the usa,” he told MPs.

“We named on the State Safety Agency to come back investigate the make any difference simply because we are obtaining reviews that our details is creating income for media platforms and journalists,” he explained. “There's been discuss, needless to say from 1 resource, just one media, that spoke Considerably about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda mentioned (referring to GroundUp), but didn't explain to MPs that the SSA investigation had been done Practically a year previously.

Proactive funding was at the guts in the looting of your lottery. It side-stepped the conventional grant system. The NLC could itself recognize a job to fund and appoint a non-profit organisation to oversee it.

Soon after Nevhutanda initially explained to Parliament in 2018 that he experienced questioned the SSA to research the intended breach, the South African National Editors Forum issued a press release indicating that his remarks mirrored “a very unsafe Frame of mind the place the media is getting blamed for your NLC’s inherent complications”.

“Instead of investigating why millions can't be accounted for, the NLC has as an alternative tried to Forged doubt to the integrity of your journalists associated and has requested the SSA to investigate their resources.”

Proactive projects manufactured secret
Security flaws discovered within the NLC grant funding program during the SSA’s investigation, look to are actually made use of being an excuse through the NLC to remove all proactive-funded tasks from its central grants technique.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all Professional-actively funding tasks was heightened to ‘mystery’ and jobs had been removed from the grant funding technique and taken care of manually beneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Information and facts Workplace, Executive Manager Lawful in an effort to safeguard [the] facts,” Nene stated in her affidavit.

“There was plenty of inside discussion, with many forwards and backwards, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a resource, who was in a senior placement on the NLC at the time, told GroundUp. “Eventually, the choice was taken to get rid of the many proactive initiatives in the process and Restrict entry to A few people”.

Some in that handful of men and women ended up implicated in corruption.

Maselwa, who resigned in the NLC various years ago, has been implicated in corruption involving lottery money. He gained R4.three-million from lottery resources allocated to construct a library and museum complicated in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural New music and Arts Expo) which he made use of to develop a residence within an upmarket gated growth in Pretoria. The property is among a number of paid out for with lottery resources that were frozen following the Asset Forfeiture Device attained a preservation purchase in December 2022.

The politically-related Nevhutanda, who was appointed as the NLC board chairperson by former President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was near to significant-ups in the ANC Management, previous NLC previous Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-chief working officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated while in the corruption which overcome the NLC on their check out.

Also implicated are previous board users 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 considering that died.

Whenever a new administration, such as the complete board and govt, took in excess of for the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they found out a “chaotic mess” from the documentation regarding proactive funding, Substantially of which was paper-centered. Vital paperwork ended up missing. Files held for safekeeping by doc storage firm Metrofile had been signed out and never returned.

The NLC was capable of Get well copies of some fox888 paperwork from its Mimecast e-mail archiving technique along with the laptops in their assistants and guidance staff members.

News reports
In his 1 December 2018 letter, dealt with to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has famous with grave issue attainable information safety breaches and the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of confidential data attained as a result of executing Formal features during the Commission by NLC staff. The functions are intended to undermine the integrity with the Commission even though disrupting the productive features [on the NLC] and resulting in insurmountable reputational damage for the Commission as the custodian of private information and facts entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

His request for your SSA to analyze was supported in an affidavit by suspended NLC company secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.

Nene is now struggling with a disciplinary inquiry immediately after she was unsuccessful in legal action to put aside findings of irregular expenditure on her check out.

The purpose of her affidavit, Nene claimed, was “to document the events which transpired associated with information security breaches on the Nationwide Lotteries Fee”.

She listed numerous news reviews which she claimed have been the outcome of these “breaches” (see at the end of this post).

Nene claimed that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that considered one of its staff members, Sello Qhino, had “supplied her categorised NLC Information and facts and persistently encouraged her to provide the knowledge to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle on a number of dodgy lottery-funded projects in Kuruman just after makes an attempt to lift the issue internally had been overlooked, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an eighteen November 2018 article inside the Day-to-day Dispatch about the misappropriation of Lottery funds, Nene mentioned that the NLC recognized after which suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an personnel while in the NLC’s East London office, who was the companion and also the mom 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 charged internally, With all the NLC investing R470,000 on legal professionals to represent it, but was located not guilty and permitted to return to operate.

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

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out in the relatives household to go ahead and take warmth off her and his little ones. Facing homelessness, he moved into an Place of work in an vacant manufacturing unit belonging to an acquaintance.

Both equally Makatse and Qhino are participating in an NLC reparation system meant to recognise the hurt a number of people endured within the arms in the NLC. Apologies and, in some instances, fiscal payment are predicted.

“Some men and women have been truly affected pretty negatively by this … This is really distressing,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz explained to the Each day Maverick final yr.

“I met several these people today. It had been just so coronary heart-wrenching that their complete life are already turned upside down,” claimed Scholtz.

Amongst All those she met were Qhino and Makatse.

Safe and sound System necessary for whistleblowers
The SSA uncovered the absence at the time of a correct channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn towards the media.

“Failure to possess a dedicated anti-corruption channel will bring about employees presenting this sort of situations outside of the NLC,” the SSA explained in its findings.

“Provided the magnitude of corruption in state establishments, it remains crucial that it makes certain that the NLC complies with all protection prescripts Which its aim is on guaranteeing that illegal and irregular perform is adequately mitigated towards and by making sure an ample channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward conduct devoid of remaining intimidated.”

It recommended that the NLC create a “Secure channel” for employees to supply information on any “untoward action” that might not protect against or discourage employees from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers plan, based on the Guarded Disclosures Act 25 of 2000, is really a requirement.”

Media reports Nene mentioned
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 intently with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and operator on the Limpopo Mirror, to expose NLC corruption. “The posting had elements of data not accessible in the public area, thereby boosting concern on inner Details stability breaches. The allegations while in the media were being independently investigated,” Nene explained. “However, personnel accountable for divulging categorized facts have but to get determined”;
A 28 January 2018 posting released through the Dally Dispatch “citing several allegations through the Limpopo Mirror report printed on ten December 2017 and also a new allegation associated with a previous personnel from the title of Mzukisi Makatse. He was billed and summarily dismissed to the danger triggered into the organisation.”
A 16 November 2018 short article while in the Lowvelder with regards to the misappropriation of NLC money involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has described how, Regardless of acquiring R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab hasn't been accomplished. “The Lowvelder posting contained categorized information and facts when it comes to NLC policy, boosting further concerns of internal information stability breaches,” Nene reported in her affidavit. “The prima facie proof regarding these allegations didn't warrant an impartial Investigation, having said that [it] highlighted the heightened facts safety risks in the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose about a dodgy R27.five-million grant to Denzhe Major Treatment, a hijacked NPO. Nene claimed GroundUp had confirmed in its Tale that it was based upon leaked NLC documents. This was Regardless of the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Promotion of Usage of Info) request for facts concerning the undertaking, she explained

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