Lottery bosses turned to State Stability Agency to investigate leaks

Lottery bosses turned to State Stability Agency to investigate leaks

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Former Nationwide Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda asked the Condition Security Company (SSA) in December 2018 to investigate the leaking of paperwork that uncovered lottery corruption.
The NLC’s enterprise secretary at time mentioned media studies she said had been based on “stolen” data within an affidavit for that SSA.
The SSA did investigate. It identified the knowledge wasn't a make any difference of state security and that the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “ample motive” for your media to expose it.
A whole new board and administration has due to the fact taken around the NLC and Up to now have taken steps to end corruption in the establishment.
A Condition Safety Company (SSA) investigation uncovered the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “delivered enough motive” for exposure via the media.

The probe into meant “info security breaches and sabotage of NLC functions” was undertaken right after then-NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda wrote to your SSA in December 2018 requesting it to research.

Here is

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by at present suspended NLC company secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the ask for, and
the security company’s “private” conclusions and proposals.
Nevhutanda asked the SSA to research the role of NLC workers in the alleged leaking of data, and Nene, in her affidavit identified unique media and stories that she claimed included these leaks.

Within the letter outlining its conclusions, the SSA informed the NLC that even though preserving state information was “a legal critical directed at preserving the sovereignty and integrity of your state” this only applied to appropriately categorized info.

Although it didn't say so specifically, the SSA conclusions implied that the allegedly leaked facts did not slide into this group.

Significantly, the SSA built it very clear that the necessity to defend condition facts “does not stop any specific from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminal activity”.

The SSA investigation observed the NLC data associated with the alleged breach was “sensitive and privileged in mother nature, but not classified with regards to the prescripts from the Minimum Information and facts Protection Requirements (Pass up)”.

“The leakage on the related delicate Formal NLC details into the media will not pose a menace to national safety,” the SSA claimed, introducing that the effect on the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report uncovered “no proof of the factual and incriminating mother nature versus any of the suspected NLC workers that might be recognized from the information and information interrogated”.

Furthermore, it said that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities within the NLC and at its beneficiaries does deliver sufficient motive to own this sort of uncovered while in the media”.

Conspiracy claims
In 2020, Nevhutanda instructed MPs in the course of a session of Parliament’s trade, industry and Level of competition portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” through which information “stolen” through the NLC was despatched to the US, in which he claimed it had been remaining sold to fund a smear campaign towards the NLC.

He was repeating equivalent statements he had Formerly created in Parliament, which incorporated advertisement hominem attacks on GroundUp which reporter but was very careful not to call either.

“I arrived in this article During this August household previous yr and reported to honourable customers that details about our beneficiaries continues to be stolen and set in one condition in America,” he instructed MPs.

“We known as over the State Safety Company to return explore the make any difference simply because we have been having reports that our details is making dollars for media platforms and journalists,” he said. “There has been talk, obviously from a single source, one media, that spoke A lot about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda stated (referring to GroundUp), but didn't notify MPs that the SSA investigation were accomplished Virtually a year previously.

Proactive funding was at the guts on the looting from the lottery. It side-stepped the traditional grant method. The NLC could alone discover a task to fund and appoint a non-financial gain organisation to oversee it.

Just after Nevhutanda initial explained to Parliament in 2018 that he experienced questioned the SSA to research the supposed breach, the South African National Editors Forum issued an announcement stating that his remarks mirrored “an especially dangerous Frame of mind exactly where the media is being blamed for that NLC’s inherent difficulties”.

“Rather than investigating why tens of millions cannot be accounted for, the NLC has alternatively attempted to Solid doubt about the integrity on the journalists concerned and has requested the SSA to analyze their sources.”

Proactive assignments made key
Security flaws discovered in the NLC grant funding procedure during the SSA’s investigation, show up to are already used as an excuse by the NLC to get rid of all proactive-funded initiatives from its central grants procedure.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all Professional-actively funding tasks was heightened to ‘top secret’ and jobs were faraway from the grant funding procedure and managed manually underneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Facts Business, Government Manager Lawful so as to safeguard [the] facts,” Nene claimed in her affidavit.

“There was a great deal of inner dialogue, with plenty of forwards and backwards, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a source, who was in the senior position with the NLC at some time, told GroundUp. “Ultimately, the decision was taken to get rid of the many proactive jobs in the technique and limit usage of A few people today”.

Some in that handful of people were being implicated in corruption.

Maselwa, who resigned within the NLC several years back, has actually been implicated in corruption involving lottery cash. He gained R4.3-million from lottery funds allotted to create a library and museum intricate in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Audio and Arts Expo) which he utilized to build a household in an upmarket gated advancement in Pretoria. The assets is one of quite a few paid for with lottery cash that were frozen following the Asset Forfeiture Device attained a preservation get in December 2022.

The politically-connected Nevhutanda, who was appointed given that the NLC board chairperson by previous President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was near large-ups during the ANC leadership, previous NLC previous Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-Main functioning officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated in the corruption which confused the NLC on their own check out.

Also implicated are previous board associates William Huma, who resigned soon after he was confronted with proof of how he experienced profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, who has considering the fact that died.

When a new administration, including the whole board and executive, took more than on the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they learned a “chaotic mess” during the documentation relating to proactive funding, much of which was paper-centered. Vital files ended up missing. Data files held for safekeeping by document storage enterprise Metrofile had been signed out and in no way returned.

The NLC was in a position to Get better copies of some เช ค หวย documents from its Mimecast email archiving system as well as laptops in their assistants and help employees.

Information experiences
In his one December 2018 letter, tackled to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has pointed out with grave problem possible data security breaches along with the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of private info received on account of carrying out official features from the Fee by NLC employees. The pursuits are meant to undermine the integrity with the Fee when disrupting the helpful capabilities [on the NLC] and triggering insurmountable reputational damage towards the Fee since the custodian of personal information and facts entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

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

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

The purpose of her affidavit, Nene reported, was “to document the gatherings which transpired relating to data protection breaches for the Countrywide Lotteries Fee”.

She mentioned many information stories which she claimed were being the results of such “breaches” (see at the conclusion of this short article).

Nene mentioned that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that one among its staff members, Sello Qhino, had “supplied her categorised NLC Information and facts and persistently inspired her to offer the knowledge to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle on the number of dodgy lottery-funded assignments in Kuruman following makes an attempt to lift the issue internally ended up ignored, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an 18 November 2018 article while in the Every day Dispatch regarding the misappropriation of Lottery cash, Nene said that the NLC recognized then suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an personnel from the NLC’s East London Business, who was the husband or wife along with the mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s 3 small children.

Rungqu and Makatse consider Rungqu was punished because Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and charged internally, with the NLC expending R470,000 on lawyers to depict it, but was located not responsible and permitted to return to work.

“The popular Think about these articles is the fact that [they involve] categorised facts relating to proactive funding tasks,” Nene explained in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out in the household residence to go ahead and take heat off her and his youngsters. Dealing with homelessness, he moved into an Workplace within an vacant manufacturing facility belonging to an acquaintance.

Each Makatse and Qhino are taking part in an NLC reparation approach meant to recognise the harm a lot of people experienced in the fingers in the NLC. Apologies and, in some instances, money payment are envisioned.

“Some people ended up definitely afflicted pretty negatively by this … This is actually unpleasant,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz instructed the Everyday Maverick very last calendar year.

“I fulfilled several these people. It absolutely was just so heart-wrenching that their full lives happen to be turned the other way up,” claimed Scholtz.

Amid These she met were being Qhino and Makatse.

Harmless platform needed for whistleblowers
The SSA found the absence at enough time of a suitable channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn to your media.

“Failure to possess a focused anti-corruption channel will lead to staff presenting these scenarios beyond the NLC,” the SSA mentioned in its findings.

“Given the magnitude of corruption in condition institutions, it stays very important that it ensures that the NLC complies with all safety prescripts and that its concentration is on making sure that unlawful and irregular perform is sufficiently mitigated against and by ensuring an sufficient channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward conduct with out getting intimidated.”

It advisable the NLC set up a “Secure channel” for workers to deliver information on any “untoward activity” that will not stop or discourage workforce from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers coverage, based upon the Safeguarded Disclosures Act twenty five of 2000, is usually a necessity.”

Media reports Nene shown
A ten December 2017 report inside the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Overall health and Health Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has worked intently with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and owner of your Limpopo Mirror, to reveal NLC corruption. “The post experienced factors of data not obtainable in the general public area, thereby increasing issue on interior Details safety breaches. The allegations within the media had been independently investigated,” Nene stated. “Nevertheless, employees responsible for divulging categorised data have however to generally be recognized”;
A 28 January 2018 article revealed by the Dally Dispatch “citing a lot of allegations in the Limpopo Mirror report posted on 10 December 2017 plus a new allegation concerning a previous employee with the identify of Mzukisi Makatse. He was billed and summarily dismissed with the threat triggered on the organisation.”
A sixteen November 2018 short article during the Lowvelder regarding the misappropriation of NLC money involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has noted how, in spite of acquiring R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has not been finished. “The Lowvelder article contained categorised data with regards to NLC policy, increasing more concerns of inside info protection breaches,” Nene said in her affidavit. “The prima facie evidence regarding these allegations didn't warrant an unbiased Investigation, nonetheless [it] highlighted the heightened information and facts security hazards in the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a few dodgy R27.five-million grant to Denzhe Primary Care, a hijacked NPO. Nene stated GroundUp had confirmed in its story that it absolutely was according to leaked NLC documents. This was Regardless of the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Advertising of Use of Data) request for particulars in regards to the undertaking, she stated

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