Lottery bosses turned to Condition Safety Agency to research leaks

Lottery bosses turned to Condition Safety Agency to research leaks

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Previous Countrywide Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda requested the Condition Protection Company (SSA) in December 2018 to research the leaking of paperwork that exposed lottery corruption.
The NLC’s enterprise secretary at some time mentioned media reports she said were determined by “stolen” data in an affidavit with the SSA.
The SSA did look into. It located the information wasn't a issue of point out safety and which the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “ample motive” with the media to expose it.
A completely new board and management has since taken about the NLC and thus far have taken measures to end corruption for the establishment.
A Point out Security Agency (SSA) investigation identified the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “delivered enough motive” for publicity via the media.

The probe into meant “information and facts stability breaches and sabotage of NLC functions” was undertaken soon after then-NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda wrote on the SSA in December 2018 requesting it to research.

Here's

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by now suspended NLC corporation secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the request, and
the safety agency’s “private” results and proposals.
Nevhutanda requested the SSA to analyze the part of NLC staff from the alleged leaking of information, and Nene, in her affidavit determined specific media and studies that she claimed associated these leaks.

Within the letter outlining its results, the SSA instructed the NLC that while safeguarding condition information and facts was “a lawful imperative geared toward defending the sovereignty and integrity on the condition” this only placed on correctly labeled info.

Even though it did not say so right, the SSA findings implied the allegedly leaked information didn't fall into this category.

Significantly, the SSA manufactured it apparent that the necessity to guard condition data “will not avert any personal from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or illegal activity”.

The SSA investigation uncovered which the NLC data involved in the alleged breach was “sensitive and privileged in character, although not labeled with regard to the prescripts in the Minimum Info Stability Standards (MISS)”.

“The leakage in the applicable sensitive Formal NLC information and facts into the media does not pose a menace to nationwide protection,” the SSA mentioned, including that the effect of the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report located “no proof of the factual and incriminating mother nature against any from the suspected NLC staff that might be identified from the knowledge and information interrogated”.

Furthermore, it mentioned that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities inside the NLC and at its beneficiaries does give enough motive to obtain this sort of exposed inside the media”.

Conspiracy statements
In 2020, Nevhutanda advised MPs through a session of Parliament’s trade, marketplace and Competitors portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” by which information “stolen” within the NLC was despatched for the US, exactly where he claimed it absolutely was getting bought to fund a smear campaign versus the NLC.

He was repeating related promises he had Earlier produced in Parliament, which involved ad hominem attacks on GroundUp and this reporter but was thorough not to call possibly.

“I came right here With this August dwelling last year and noted to honourable associates that information regarding our beneficiaries has actually been stolen and set in a single state in America,” he told MPs.

“We called on the Point out Protection Agency to return investigate the issue simply because we've been receiving reports that our information and facts is creating money for media platforms and journalists,” he claimed. “There has been converse, obviously from just one resource, a single media, that spoke Substantially about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda said (referring to GroundUp), but failed to explain to MPs the SSA investigation had been concluded Pretty much a calendar year before.

Proactive funding was at the guts with the looting with the lottery. It aspect-stepped the conventional grant method. The NLC could itself identify a project to fund and appoint a non-profit organisation to supervise it.

Soon after Nevhutanda very first told Parliament in 2018 that he experienced asked the SSA to analyze the supposed breach, the South African Nationwide Editors Discussion board issued an announcement indicating that his remarks reflected “a very hazardous Angle in which the media is remaining blamed for the NLC’s inherent troubles”.

“Rather than investigating why hundreds of thousands can't be accounted for, the NLC has as a substitute made an effort to Solid doubt about the integrity on the journalists included and has asked the SSA to analyze their sources.”

Proactive assignments designed secret
Security flaws identified inside the NLC grant funding program in the course of the SSA’s investigation, show up to are applied as an excuse by the NLC to eliminate all proactive-funded assignments from its central grants program.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all Professional-actively funding initiatives was heightened to ‘key’ and tasks ended up removed from the grant funding system and taken care of manually beneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Details Business, Government Manager Lawful to be able to safeguard [the] data,” Nene explained in her affidavit.

“There was loads of interior dialogue, with many forwards and backwards, about what to do to plug the alleged leaks”, a source, who was within a senior posture for the NLC at enough time, told GroundUp. “Ultimately, the decision was taken to eliminate the many proactive projects within the technique and limit use of A few people today”.

Some in that handful of individuals have been implicated in corruption.

Maselwa, who resigned through the NLC many decades in the past, has long been implicated in corruption involving lottery resources. He acquired R4.3-million from lottery money allocated to create a library and museum intricate in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Audio and Arts Expo) which he employed to construct a property in an upmarket gated enhancement in Pretoria. The assets is one of several paid out for with lottery resources that were frozen once the Asset Forfeiture Unit received a preservation purchase in December 2022.

The politically-linked Nevhutanda, who was appointed since the NLC board chairperson by previous President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was near high-ups in the ANC Management, previous NLC previous Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-chief running officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated within the corruption which overwhelmed the NLC on their own view.

Also implicated are former board associates William Huma, who resigned immediately after he was confronted with evidence of how he experienced profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, that has considering that died.

Each time a new administration, including the overall board and executive, took about within the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they uncovered a “chaotic mess” during the documentation associated with proactive funding, much of which was paper-primarily based. Critical files had been missing. Files held for safekeeping by document storage business Metrofile had been signed out and never ever returned.

The NLC was capable to Get well copies of some ผล หวย paperwork from its Mimecast e mail archiving process and the laptops in their assistants and aid team.

News studies
In his 1 December 2018 letter, dealt with to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has observed with grave worry feasible info protection breaches as well as the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of private data obtained due to carrying out Formal capabilities within the Commission by NLC workforce. The routines are meant to undermine the integrity from the Fee while disrupting the productive features [with the NLC] and causing insurmountable reputational harm towards the Commission as being the custodian of non-public data entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

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

Nene is at present struggling with a disciplinary inquiry immediately after she was unsuccessful in legal motion to set aside conclusions of irregular expenditure on her look at.

The purpose of her affidavit, Nene reported, was “to file the activities which transpired concerning data stability breaches in the Countrywide Lotteries Fee”.

She shown various news studies which she claimed were being the outcomes of those “breaches” (see at the end of this article).

Nene stated that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that one among its personnel, Sello Qhino, had “offered her categorized NLC Information and persistently inspired her to supply the information to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle with a series of dodgy lottery-funded tasks in Kuruman after makes an attempt to lift the issue internally were being overlooked, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an eighteen November 2018 write-up within the Each day Dispatch in regards to the misappropriation of Lottery resources, Nene explained the NLC discovered and afterwards suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an staff inside the NLC’s East London Office environment, who was the husband or wife and the mom of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s a few children.

Rungqu and Makatse believe Rungqu was punished since Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and charged internally, With all the NLC shelling out R470,000 on lawyers to stand for it, but was uncovered not guilty and permitted to return to work.

“The common Consider these content articles is the fact that [they contain] categorized information regarding proactive funding projects,” Nene explained in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out of your loved ones household to take the heat off her and his youngsters. Experiencing homelessness, he moved into an Business within an vacant manufacturing unit belonging to a colleague.

Equally Makatse and Qhino are participating in an NLC reparation approach intended to recognise the harm some people endured in the arms on the NLC. Apologies and, in some cases, economical compensation are predicted.

“Some people were being actually affected incredibly negatively by this … This is actually agonizing,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz explained to the Everyday Maverick past year.

“I satisfied two or three these folks. It had been just so heart-wrenching that their entire lives have already been turned upside down,” mentioned Scholtz.

Amongst Individuals she met were being Qhino and Makatse.

Safe and sound platform desired for whistleblowers
The SSA observed the absence at the time of a suitable channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn on the media.

“Failure to have a committed anti-corruption channel will lead to workforce presenting these instances beyond the NLC,” the SSA said in its results.

“Supplied the magnitude of corruption in state establishments, it continues to be essential that it makes sure that the NLC complies with all stability prescripts Which its concentrate is on making certain that illegal and irregular carry out is sufficiently mitigated against and by making sure an enough channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward conduct devoid of being intimidated.”

It advisable which the NLC create a “Protected channel” for workers to offer information on any “untoward exercise” that could not avert or discourage staff members from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers coverage, according to the Safeguarded Disclosures Act twenty five of 2000, is really a requirement.”

Media experiences Nene listed
A ten December 2017 report from the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Overall health and Physical fitness Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has labored intently with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and owner with the Limpopo Mirror, to expose NLC corruption. “The short article had aspects of data not obtainable in the general public domain, thereby raising concern on interior Info security breaches. The allegations inside the media were independently investigated,” Nene stated. “Nonetheless, workers answerable for divulging classified information and facts have still for being identified”;
A 28 January 2018 short article published via the Dally Dispatch “citing several allegations within the Limpopo Mirror post released on ten December 2017 and a new allegation associated with a previous personnel via the identify of Mzukisi Makatse. He was billed and summarily dismissed with the threat caused towards the organisation.”
A 16 November 2018 post inside the Lowvelder with regards to the misappropriation of NLC resources involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has described how, in spite of receiving R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab hasn't been concluded. “The Lowvelder write-up contained classified information and facts regarding NLC policy, increasing additional problems of internal facts security breaches,” Nene explained in her affidavit. “The prima facie proof with regards to these allegations didn't warrant an independent Investigation, on the other hand [it] highlighted the heightened info safety pitfalls in the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a couple of dodgy R27.5-million grant to Denzhe Principal Care, a hijacked NPO. Nene mentioned GroundUp had confirmed in its Tale that it had been based upon leaked NLC paperwork. This was despite the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Advertising of Use of Data) request for aspects concerning the challenge, she explained