Lottery bosses turned to State Stability Company to analyze leaks

Lottery bosses turned to State Stability Company to analyze leaks

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Former Countrywide Lotteries Fee (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda questioned the Condition Security Agency (SSA) in December 2018 to investigate the leaking of files that uncovered lottery corruption.
The NLC’s business secretary at some time stated media stories she reported had been based on “stolen” details in an affidavit for the SSA.
The SSA did look into. It uncovered the data was not a make a difference of state stability and which the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “ample motive” with the media to reveal it.
A fresh board and management has considering the fact that taken about the NLC and So far have taken steps to end corruption with the establishment.
A State Safety Company (SSA) investigation discovered the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “offered sufficient motive” for publicity with the media.

The probe into supposed “details security breaches and sabotage of NLC functions” was carried out right after then-NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda wrote towards the SSA in December 2018 requesting it to research.

Here's

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by currently suspended NLC company secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the request, and
the security agency’s “confidential” findings and suggestions.
Nevhutanda asked the SSA to investigate the function of NLC workers inside the alleged leaking of data, and Nene, in her affidavit identified particular media and stories that she claimed associated these leaks.

Inside the letter outlining its results, the SSA informed the NLC that although shielding point out information and facts was “a lawful imperative geared toward guarding the sovereignty and integrity of the condition” this only applied to appropriately categorised data.

Even though it did not say so specifically, the SSA results implied that the allegedly leaked information and facts didn't fall into this category.

Appreciably, the SSA manufactured it clear that the necessity to defend state info “isn't going to prevent any personal from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminal activity”.

The SSA investigation found which the NLC information and facts associated with the alleged breach was “sensitive and privileged in nature, although not classified when it comes to the prescripts of your Least Data Safety Specifications (Overlook)”.

“The leakage in the relevant delicate official NLC information to the media won't pose a threat to nationwide protection,” the SSA stated, including that the influence in the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report located “no evidence of the factual and incriminating character in opposition to any with the suspected NLC staff that may be identified from the information and information interrogated”.

What's more, it said that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities throughout the NLC and at its beneficiaries does present ample motive to have this sort of uncovered during the media”.

Conspiracy promises
In 2020, Nevhutanda instructed MPs for the duration of a session of Parliament’s trade, business and competition portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” during which facts “stolen” from your NLC was despatched to the US, exactly where he claimed it was being sold to fund a smear marketing campaign in opposition to the NLC.

He was repeating comparable promises he experienced previously built in Parliament, which involved ad hominem assaults on GroundUp and this reporter but was cautious not to call both.

“I came right here With this August property previous 12 months and documented to honourable associates that details about our beneficiaries is stolen and put in a single state in the united states,” he informed MPs.

“We known as within the Point out Safety Company to come back consider the make any difference since we have been getting reviews that our facts is producing income for media platforms and journalists,” he mentioned. “There was converse, certainly from a single supply, 1 media, that spoke Substantially about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda said (referring to GroundUp), but failed to tell MPs that the SSA investigation had been concluded Pretty much a calendar year previously.

Proactive funding was at the heart of the looting with the lottery. It side-stepped the normal grant system. The NLC could by itself detect a job to fund and appoint a non-profit organisation to oversee it.

Just after Nevhutanda first advised Parliament in 2018 that he experienced questioned the SSA to analyze the intended breach, the South African National Editors Discussion board issued an announcement declaring that his remarks reflected “a particularly dangerous Perspective wherever the media is staying blamed with the NLC’s inherent problems”.

“In lieu of investigating why hundreds of thousands cannot be accounted for, the NLC has as a substitute attempted to Forged question on the integrity of your journalists associated and it has asked the SSA to research their sources.”

Proactive jobs built mystery
Security flaws discovered during the NLC grant funding process in the course of the SSA’s investigation, appear to have been applied as an excuse from the NLC to get rid of all proactive-funded projects from its central grants program.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all Professional-actively funding jobs was heightened to ‘magic formula’ and initiatives ended up faraway from the grant funding program and taken care of manually underneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Information Workplace, Govt Supervisor Legal as a way to safeguard [the] info,” Nene explained in her affidavit.

“There was plenty of inside dialogue, with many forwards and backwards, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a supply, who was within a senior position at the NLC at time, told GroundUp. “In the end, the decision was taken to remove all the proactive tasks through the process and Restrict use of a handful of folks”.

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

Maselwa, who resigned from the NLC various many years in the past, has been implicated in corruption involving lottery money. He acquired R4.three-million from lottery funds allocated to construct a library and museum elaborate in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Music and Arts Expo) which he utilised to develop a house within an upmarket gated improvement in Pretoria. The home is one of a number of paid for with lottery funds which were frozen once the Asset Forfeiture Unit obtained a preservation order 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 large-ups within the ANC Management, former 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 view.

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

Each time a new administration, including the overall board and govt, took over on the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they learned a “chaotic mess” during the documentation concerning proactive funding, much of which was paper-based. Key files ended up missing. Files held for safekeeping by doc storage firm Metrofile had been signed out and by no means returned.

The NLC was in a position to Get better copies of some หวย วัน นี้ documents from its Mimecast electronic mail archiving procedure as well as laptops in their assistants and assistance team.

Information reports
In his one December 2018 letter, addressed to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has famous with grave issue attainable information protection breaches as well as unauthorised use and/or dissemination of confidential data attained as a result of doing Formal features during the Fee by NLC workforce. The actions are intended to undermine the integrity of the Fee while disrupting the effective capabilities [of your NLC] and producing insurmountable reputational damage on the Commission because the custodian of private data entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

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

Nene is currently experiencing a disciplinary inquiry following she was unsuccessful in authorized motion to set aside findings of irregular expenditure on her enjoy.

The goal of her affidavit, Nene mentioned, was “to report the situations which transpired referring to data protection breaches for the Countrywide Lotteries Fee”.

She stated many information stories which she claimed ended up the effects of those “breaches” (see at the end of this text).

Nene explained that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that one among its staff, Sello Qhino, experienced “presented her classified NLC Facts and persistently encouraged her to offer the information to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle over a number of dodgy lottery-funded assignments in Kuruman after makes an attempt to boost The difficulty internally had been overlooked, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an eighteen November 2018 posting inside the Day-to-day Dispatch about the misappropriation of Lottery funds, Nene stated that the NLC identified after which suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an worker inside the NLC’s East London Place of work, who was the spouse as well as the mom of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s 3 youngsters.

Rungqu and Makatse think Rungqu was punished simply because Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and billed internally, With all the NLC investing R470,000 on attorneys to represent it, but was observed not responsible and allowed to return to work.

“The popular factor in these content is the fact that [they entail] categorised information referring to proactive funding assignments,” Nene claimed in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out of your family house to take the warmth off her and his small children. Struggling with homelessness, he moved into an Business within an empty manufacturing unit belonging to a colleague.

Equally Makatse and Qhino are participating in an NLC reparation system meant to recognise the harm lots of people endured at the palms in the NLC. Apologies and, in some cases, economic compensation are anticipated.

“Some men and women have been actually afflicted really negatively by this … This is basically distressing,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz informed the Every day Maverick previous 12 months.

“I achieved a number of these persons. It was just so heart-wrenching that their complete lives are turned the other way up,” mentioned Scholtz.

Amid People she fulfilled ended up Qhino and Makatse.

Safe System desired for whistleblowers
The SSA discovered the absence at the time of a proper channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn for the media.

“Failure to have a dedicated anti-corruption channel will bring about workforce presenting such conditions outside of the NLC,” the SSA reported in its findings.

“Specified the magnitude of corruption in state institutions, it continues to be vital that it ensures that the NLC complies with all stability prescripts Which its target is on making certain that unlawful and irregular carry out is sufficiently mitigated against and by making certain an enough channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward perform without having currently being intimidated.”

It encouraged the NLC establish a “Protected channel” for employees to supply info on any “untoward action” that will not avoid or discourage workers from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers plan, dependant on the Safeguarded Disclosures Act twenty five of 2000, can be a requirement.”

Media stories Nene outlined
A ten December 2017 report within the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Wellbeing and Health and fitness Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has worked closely with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and owner from the Limpopo Mirror, to expose NLC corruption. “The write-up had components of information not accessible in the general public area, thereby raising issue on inside Data safety breaches. The allegations within the media were being independently investigated,” Nene explained. “Nonetheless, employees responsible for divulging categorized information have nevertheless to be recognized”;
A 28 January 2018 posting printed because of the Dally Dispatch “citing numerous allegations from your Limpopo Mirror report released on ten December 2017 and a new allegation relating to a former employee by the identify of Mzukisi Makatse. He was billed and summarily dismissed for that risk triggered for the organisation.”
A 16 November 2018 article during the Lowvelder about the misappropriation of NLC resources involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has documented how, in spite of obtaining R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has never been concluded. “The Lowvelder post contained categorised details concerning NLC policy, increasing further considerations of inside information security breaches,” Nene explained in her affidavit. “The prima facie proof with regards to these allegations didn't warrant an impartial Investigation, having said that [it] highlighted the heightened information security risks within the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a few dodgy R27.five-million grant to Denzhe Key Care, a hijacked NPO. Nene mentioned GroundUp had verified in its story that it was based on leaked NLC paperwork. This was despite the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Advertising of Entry to Info) ask for for specifics concerning the challenge, she explained