Lottery bosses turned to State Security Agency to investigate leaks
Lottery bosses turned to State Security Agency to investigate leaks
Blog Article
Former Countrywide Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda requested the Condition Stability Company (SSA) in December 2018 to analyze the leaking of documents that uncovered lottery corruption.
The NLC’s corporation secretary at the time listed media experiences she said were being according to “stolen” information and facts in an affidavit to the SSA.
The SSA did investigate. It identified the data was not a issue of state security and the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “enough motive” to the media to show it.
A new board and administration has because taken above the NLC and To this point have taken steps to end corruption with the institution.
A Condition Safety Company (SSA) investigation discovered which the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “provided ample motive” for publicity through the media.
The probe into intended “information security breaches and sabotage of NLC operations” was undertaken just after then-NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda wrote into the SSA in December 2018 requesting it to investigate.
Here is
Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by now suspended NLC organization secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the request, and
the security company’s “private” findings and proposals.
Nevhutanda requested the SSA to analyze the purpose of NLC workers within the alleged leaking of data, and Nene, in her affidavit identified precise media and reviews that she claimed associated these leaks.
Within the letter outlining its results, the SSA explained to the NLC that whilst preserving state details was “a authorized very important aimed at defending the sovereignty and integrity on the condition” this only applied to appropriately classified info.
Although it didn't say so specifically, the SSA results implied that the allegedly leaked info didn't drop into this category.
Substantially, the SSA produced it clear that the necessity to safeguard point out data “doesn't reduce any specific from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or illegal activity”.
The SSA investigation located which the NLC details involved with the alleged breach was “delicate and privileged in mother nature, but not categorized concerning the prescripts of the Minimal Data Protection Criteria (Pass up)”.
“The leakage of the relevant delicate official NLC data for the media will not pose a threat to countrywide protection,” the SSA mentioned, adding which the effect of the breaches was reputational.
The SSA report uncovered “no evidence of the factual and incriminating nature versus any in the suspected NLC employees that would be identified from the knowledge and details interrogated”.
Furthermore, it mentioned that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities within the NLC and at its beneficiaries does offer sufficient motive to acquire these types of uncovered in the media”.
Conspiracy claims
In 2020, Nevhutanda informed MPs for the duration of a session of Parliament’s trade, sector and Level of competition portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” in which information and facts “stolen” within the NLC was sent for the US, exactly where he claimed it absolutely was currently being sold to fund a smear marketing campaign towards the NLC.
He was repeating similar statements he experienced previously designed in Parliament, which integrated advertisement hominem assaults on GroundUp and this reporter but was mindful not to call possibly.
“I arrived right here With this August home previous 12 months and claimed to honourable users that information about our beneficiaries is stolen and place in one state in the united states,” he explained to MPs.
“We called around the Point out Stability Company to return look into the issue because we've been acquiring experiences that our information is generating dollars for media platforms and journalists,” he explained. “There was talk, needless to say from just one source, just one media, that spoke Significantly about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda claimed (referring to GroundUp), but did not notify MPs the SSA investigation had been concluded Pretty much a 12 months previously.
Proactive funding was at the heart in the looting from the lottery. It side-stepped the conventional grant course of action. The NLC could alone establish a project to fund and appoint a non-income organisation to supervise it.
After Nevhutanda 1st instructed Parliament in 2018 that he experienced questioned the SSA to analyze the meant breach, the South African Nationwide Editors Forum issued a press release declaring that his remarks reflected “an incredibly unsafe attitude wherever the media is becoming blamed for that NLC’s inherent issues”.
“Rather than investigating why thousands and thousands can not be accounted for, the NLC has rather attempted to Solid doubt within the integrity on the journalists included and it has requested the SSA to research their sources.”
Proactive projects produced magic formula
Security flaws discovered during the NLC grant funding process over the SSA’s investigation, look to are already utilized being an excuse because of the NLC to remove all proactive-funded initiatives from its central grants program.
“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all Professional-actively funding tasks was heightened to ‘solution’ and tasks ended up faraway from the grant funding system and taken care of manually beneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Information and facts Place of work, Government Manager Legal in an effort to safeguard [the] facts,” Nene reported in her affidavit.
“There was a lot of interior dialogue, with numerous backwards and forwards, about what to do to plug the alleged leaks”, a source, who was in a senior posture for the NLC at time, told GroundUp. “Eventually, the decision was taken to eliminate every one of the proactive tasks within the program and Restrict access to a handful of people”.
Some in that handful of men and women were being implicated in corruption.
Maselwa, who resigned from your NLC various many years in the past, has actually been implicated in corruption involving lottery resources. He received R4.3-million from lottery funds allocated to construct a library and museum intricate in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Tunes and Arts Expo) which he applied to develop a household within an upmarket gated growth in Pretoria. The house is one of several compensated for with lottery money which were frozen following the Asset Forfeiture Unit attained a preservation purchase in December 2022.
The politically-related Nevhutanda, who was appointed as being the NLC board chairperson by former President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was near to higher-ups during the ANC leadership, former NLC previous Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-Main working officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated during the corruption which overwhelmed the NLC on their enjoy.
Also implicated are previous board members William Huma, who resigned soon after he was confronted with proof of how he experienced profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, who's got since died.
Whenever a new administration, including the complete board and executive, took above with the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they uncovered a “chaotic mess” from the documentation regarding proactive funding, Substantially of which was paper-based mostly. Crucial documents were being missing. Data files held for safekeeping by document storage company Metrofile were signed out and in no way returned.
The NLC was able to Get well copies of some ตรวจ หวย ผล สลากกินแบ่ง รัฐบาล งวด documents from its Mimecast email archiving system as well as laptops of their assistants and assistance team.
News reports
In his 1 December 2018 letter, addressed to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has famous with grave issue achievable information and facts security breaches plus the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of private info acquired due to accomplishing Formal functions in the Commission by NLC workers. The routines are intended to undermine the integrity on the Commission although disrupting the successful functions [from the NLC] and causing insurmountable reputational hurt to your Commission as the custodian of private data entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”
His request for that SSA to investigate was supported in an affidavit by suspended NLC company secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.
Nene is now going through a disciplinary inquiry after she was unsuccessful in legal action to set aside findings of irregular expenditure on her look at.
The purpose of her affidavit, Nene explained, was “to record the activities which transpired concerning info stability breaches within the National Lotteries Fee”.
She detailed several news stories which she claimed were the results of such “breaches” (see at the conclusion of this information).
Nene said that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that one among its employees, Sello Qhino, had “presented her labeled NLC Information and facts and persistently inspired her to supply the knowledge to GroundUp”.
Qhino, who blew the whistle on a number of dodgy lottery-funded jobs in Kuruman right after tries to raise The difficulty internally have been disregarded, was subsequently fired.
Referring to an 18 November 2018 article while in the Every day Dispatch concerning the misappropriation of Lottery cash, Nene said that the NLC determined after which suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an staff inside the NLC’s East London office, who was the companion along with the mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s three kids.
Rungqu and Makatse feel Rungqu was punished mainly because Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and billed internally, With all the NLC investing R470,000 on legal professionals to characterize it, but was identified not responsible and allowed to return to operate.
“The typical Think about these content articles is that [they entail] categorised details concerning proactive funding projects,” Nene explained in her affidavit.
When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out of your family members residence to take the heat off her and his youngsters. Experiencing homelessness, he moved into an Office environment within an empty factory belonging to a friend.
Both Makatse and Qhino are taking part in an NLC reparation course of action intended to recognise the harm some people experienced with the hands with the NLC. Apologies and, in some instances, financial payment are expected.
“Some men and women were seriously affected quite negatively by this … This is really unpleasant,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz instructed the Daily Maverick final yr.
“I fulfilled two or three these individuals. It was just so coronary heart-wrenching that their whole life have been turned the other way up,” reported Scholtz.
Among the Those people she fulfilled ended up Qhino and Makatse.
Risk-free platform needed for whistleblowers
The SSA uncovered the absence at enough time of a correct channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to show on the media.
“Failure to possess a devoted anti-corruption channel will result in staff members presenting this sort of conditions outside of the NLC,” the SSA claimed in its conclusions.
“Provided the magnitude of corruption in condition establishments, it continues to be essential that it makes sure that the NLC complies with all protection prescripts Which its aim is on making sure that unlawful and irregular perform is sufficiently mitigated versus and by making sure an suitable channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward perform without the need of remaining intimidated.”
It proposed the NLC set up a “Secure channel” for workers to offer information on any “untoward exercise” that might not stop or discourage workforce from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers coverage, based on the Secured Disclosures Act 25 of 2000, is often a requirement.”
Media stories Nene listed
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 intently with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and operator of your Limpopo Mirror, to show NLC corruption. “The article had elements of information not accessible in the general public area, therefore elevating concern on internal Information and facts stability breaches. The allegations from the media have been independently investigated,” Nene mentioned. “Nevertheless, employees chargeable for divulging categorized information have still to become discovered”;
A 28 January 2018 post released from the Dally Dispatch “citing a lot of allegations from the Limpopo Mirror report released on ten December 2017 and a new allegation referring to a former worker through the title of Mzukisi Makatse. He was charged and summarily dismissed for your risk brought on towards the organisation.”
A 16 November 2018 article in the Lowvelder concerning the misappropriation of NLC resources involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has described how, Regardless of receiving R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has not been finished. “The Lowvelder posting contained labeled info concerning NLC policy, increasing additional problems of internal details protection breaches,” Nene said in her affidavit. “The prima facie evidence with regard to these allegations did not warrant an impartial Investigation, on the other hand [it] highlighted the heightened information security dangers inside the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose about a dodgy R27.5-million grant to Denzhe Primary Treatment, a hijacked NPO. Nene reported GroundUp experienced confirmed in its story that it absolutely was dependant on leaked NLC files. This was despite the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Advertising of Entry to Info) ask for for information regarding the venture, she reported