Lottery bosses turned to Point out Safety Agency to research leaks

Lottery bosses turned to Point out Safety Agency to research leaks

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Former Countrywide Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda questioned the State Protection Company (SSA) in December 2018 to investigate the leaking of documents that exposed lottery corruption.
The NLC’s company secretary at the time detailed media stories she reported were determined by “stolen” facts in an affidavit to the SSA.
The SSA did investigate. It discovered the information wasn't a subject of state stability and the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “ample motive” with the media to reveal it.
A brand new board and administration has considering that taken more than the NLC and Up to now have taken measures to end corruption within the institution.
A Condition Stability Company (SSA) investigation identified the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “provided enough motive” for publicity from the media.

The probe into supposed “data protection breaches and sabotage of NLC functions” was carried out immediately after then-NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda wrote into the SSA in December 2018 requesting it to analyze.

Here's

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by at the moment suspended NLC corporation secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the request, and
the security company’s “confidential” conclusions and proposals.
Nevhutanda asked the SSA to analyze the purpose of NLC personnel within the alleged leaking of data, and Nene, in her affidavit recognized specific media and stories that she claimed involved these leaks.

From the letter outlining its findings, the SSA advised the NLC that while safeguarding point out info was “a authorized vital aimed at defending the sovereignty and integrity on the condition” this only placed on properly labeled facts.

Even though it did not say so immediately, the SSA findings implied that the allegedly leaked information didn't slide into this classification.

Substantially, the SSA created it crystal clear that the necessity to shield state data “does not avoid any unique from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminal activity”.

The SSA investigation located the NLC facts associated with the alleged breach was “sensitive and privileged in mother nature, although not labeled when it comes to the prescripts from the Minimum Data Safety Standards (Skip)”.

“The leakage with the applicable delicate official NLC details for the media will not pose a threat to countrywide protection,” the SSA mentioned, adding which the affect from the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report found “no evidence of the factual and incriminating character versus any on the suspected NLC employees which could be identified from the knowledge and details interrogated”.

Furthermore, it mentioned that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities throughout the NLC and at its beneficiaries does supply sufficient motive to acquire these types of uncovered in the media”.

Conspiracy claims
In 2020, Nevhutanda told MPs in the course of a session of Parliament’s trade, market and Levels of competition portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” where facts “stolen” with the NLC was sent to the US, where by he claimed it had been being marketed to fund a smear campaign from the NLC.

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

“I came listed here During this August house previous 12 months and described to honourable users that specifics of our beneficiaries has been stolen and put in a single point out in the united states,” he advised MPs.

“We named about the State Security Company to come consider the matter for the reason that we have been obtaining experiences that our data is producing revenue for media platforms and journalists,” he explained. “There has been chat, of course from one particular resource, 1 media, that spoke Substantially about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda stated (referring to GroundUp), but failed to explain to MPs the SSA investigation were done almost a year earlier.

Proactive funding was at the heart of the looting from the lottery. It side-stepped the traditional grant process. The NLC could alone establish a job to fund and appoint a non-financial gain organisation to oversee it.

Following Nevhutanda first explained to Parliament in 2018 that he had questioned the SSA to research the meant breach, the South African National Editors Discussion board issued a statement expressing that his remarks mirrored “an especially dangerous Frame of mind where the media is currently being blamed with the NLC’s inherent issues”.

“In lieu of investigating why millions cannot be accounted for, the NLC has as an alternative attempted to cast doubt around the integrity from the journalists involved and it has questioned the SSA to research their sources.”

Proactive projects made top secret
Protection flaws recognized within the NLC grant funding system in the SSA’s investigation, show up to have already been used as an justification through the NLC to eliminate all proactive-funded tasks from its central grants process.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all pro-actively funding assignments was heightened to ‘top secret’ and tasks have been faraway from the grant funding procedure and maintained manually under the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Details Business office, Government Manager Authorized in an effort to safeguard [the] data,” Nene explained in her affidavit.

“There was a great deal of inner discussion, with lots of forwards and backwards, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a source, who was within a senior posture in the NLC at time, advised GroundUp. “In the long run, the choice was taken to get rid of every one of the proactive assignments through the process and Restrict usage of A few people today”.

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

Maselwa, who resigned with the NLC many decades in the past, has long been implicated in corruption involving lottery resources. He received R4.three-million from lottery funds allocated to create a library and museum complicated in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Audio and Arts Expo) which he applied to make a residence within an upmarket gated development in Pretoria. The home is among several paid out for with lottery cash which were frozen following the Asset Forfeiture Unit obtained a preservation order in December 2022.

The politically-related Nevhutanda, who was appointed since the NLC board chairperson by previous President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was near to superior-ups in the ANC Management, previous NLC former Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-Main functioning officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated inside the corruption which confused 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 may have due to the fact died.

Any time a new administration, such as the entire board and govt, took over at the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they found a “chaotic mess” within the documentation referring to proactive funding, Significantly of which was paper-primarily based. Key files ended up missing. Documents held for safekeeping by document storage company Metrofile were signed out and by no means returned.

The NLC was ready to Recuperate copies of some หวย paperwork from its Mimecast e-mail archiving method and also the laptops in their assistants and help employees.

Information reviews
In his one December 2018 letter, tackled to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has pointed out with grave problem probable data stability breaches as well as the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of private information acquired due to performing official functions inside the Commission by NLC personnel. The things to do are meant to undermine the integrity of your Fee though disrupting the helpful capabilities [with the NLC] and resulting in insurmountable reputational damage for the Commission given that the custodian of non-public details entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

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

Nene is currently experiencing a disciplinary inquiry right after she was unsuccessful in lawful action to set aside results of irregular expenditure on her watch.

The objective of her affidavit, Nene reported, was “to document the gatherings which transpired relating to info safety breaches for the Nationwide Lotteries Fee”.

She stated many information stories which she claimed were being the effects of such “breaches” (see at the conclusion of this text).

Nene claimed that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that considered one of its personnel, Sello Qhino, had “delivered her labeled NLC Details and persistently inspired her to supply the data to GroundUp”.

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

Referring to an eighteen November 2018 write-up from the Daily Dispatch in regards to the misappropriation of Lottery cash, Nene reported which the NLC discovered and then suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an employee within the NLC’s East London Place of work, who was the companion as well as the mother 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, While using the NLC paying out R470,000 on lawyers to characterize it, but was identified not responsible and permitted to return to work.

“The widespread Think about these articles or blog posts is that [they entail] labeled information referring to proactive funding initiatives,” Nene reported in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out of the loved ones residence to take the heat off her and his kids. Dealing with homelessness, he moved into an Place of work in an vacant manufacturing facility belonging to a buddy.

The two Makatse and Qhino are taking part in an NLC reparation course of action intended to recognise the hurt lots of people endured at the palms of the NLC. Apologies and, sometimes, monetary payment are envisioned.

“Some men and women were being actually afflicted very negatively by this … This is absolutely distressing,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz told the Every day Maverick previous 12 months.

“I fulfilled a handful of these people today. It absolutely was just so coronary heart-wrenching that their total lives are already turned the wrong way up,” mentioned Scholtz.

Amongst those she achieved ended up Qhino and Makatse.

Risk-free platform desired for whistleblowers
The SSA located the absence at the time of an appropriate channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn to your media.

“Failure to have a committed anti-corruption channel will result in personnel presenting this kind of scenarios beyond the NLC,” the SSA stated in its results.

“Supplied the magnitude of corruption in point out institutions, it remains vital that it makes sure that the NLC complies with all protection prescripts and that its emphasis is on guaranteeing that unlawful and irregular carry out is adequately mitigated against and by ensuring an adequate channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward perform without the need of remaining intimidated.”

It proposed the NLC establish a “safe channel” for workers to provide info on any “untoward activity” that may not avert or discourage workers from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers coverage, according to the Secured Disclosures Act twenty five of 2000, is actually a need.”

Media reports Nene shown
A ten December 2017 report in the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Wellness and Exercise Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has labored intently with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and operator with the Limpopo Mirror, to show NLC corruption. “The posting experienced things of knowledge not readily available in the public domain, thus increasing problem on internal Information stability breaches. The allegations while in the media had been independently investigated,” Nene said. “Having said that, personnel liable for divulging categorised details have yet to get discovered”;
A 28 January 2018 post released by the Dally Dispatch “citing several allegations with the Limpopo Mirror article printed on 10 December 2017 plus a new allegation regarding a previous worker with the title of Mzukisi Makatse. He was charged and summarily dismissed for your threat caused to the organisation.”
A 16 November 2018 short article inside the Lowvelder with regard to the misappropriation of NLC resources involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has reported how, Despite acquiring R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has not been finished. “The Lowvelder write-up contained categorised facts when it comes to NLC plan, raising further more concerns of inner information protection breaches,” Nene reported in her affidavit. “The prima facie evidence regarding these allegations didn't warrant an unbiased Investigation, however [it] highlighted the heightened details stability risks within the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose about a dodgy R27.5-million grant to Denzhe Key Treatment, a hijacked NPO. Nene explained GroundUp had verified in its Tale that it had been based upon leaked NLC files. This was Regardless of the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Marketing of Access to Details) request for information with regard to the job, she mentioned