Lottery bosses turned to Condition Security Agency to investigate leaks

Lottery bosses turned to Condition Security Agency to investigate leaks

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Former National Lotteries Fee (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda questioned the State Security Agency (SSA) in December 2018 to investigate the leaking of documents that exposed lottery corruption.
The NLC’s firm secretary at enough time stated media experiences she said were determined by “stolen” facts within an affidavit to the SSA.
The SSA did examine. It identified the information wasn't a subject of condition security and which the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “sufficient motive” for the media to reveal it.
A whole new board and management has since taken about the NLC and So far have taken steps to end corruption with the establishment.
A State Safety Company (SSA) investigation found the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “delivered ample motive” for exposure with the media.

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

Here is

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by at present suspended NLC organization secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the request, and
the safety agency’s “confidential” conclusions and suggestions.
Nevhutanda asked the SSA to analyze the purpose of NLC personnel inside the alleged leaking of data, and Nene, in her affidavit determined particular media and experiences that she claimed concerned these leaks.

From the letter outlining its results, the SSA advised the NLC that although defending state information and facts was “a lawful very important geared toward safeguarding the sovereignty and integrity on the state” this only applied to correctly categorized info.

Even though it did not say so directly, the SSA results implied which the allegedly leaked information didn't slide into this category.

Substantially, the SSA produced it crystal clear that the need to shield condition data “doesn't prevent any person from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or illegal activity”.

The SSA investigation observed that the NLC info linked to the alleged breach was “sensitive and privileged in character, although not labeled with regard to the prescripts in the Minimum amount Details Safety Benchmarks (MISS)”.

“The leakage in the appropriate sensitive official NLC details for the media isn't going to pose a risk to nationwide security,” the SSA reported, introducing the influence of your breaches was reputational.

The SSA report uncovered “no evidence of a factual and incriminating mother nature in opposition to any in the suspected NLC workers which could be recognized from the data and facts interrogated”.

Additionally, it said that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities in the NLC and at its beneficiaries does present sufficient motive to acquire such exposed within the media”.

Conspiracy claims
In 2020, Nevhutanda informed MPs for the duration of a session of Parliament’s trade, marketplace and competition portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” in which information “stolen” within the NLC was sent towards the US, where he claimed it had been getting bought to fund a smear campaign versus the NLC.

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

“I came listed here During this August home previous 12 months and described to honourable users that specifics of our beneficiaries continues to be stolen and put in one point out in the usa,” he instructed MPs.

“We identified as to the Condition Security Company to come back consider the matter because we have been acquiring reports that our information and facts is creating money for media platforms and journalists,” he claimed. “There has been converse, needless to say from a person source, one particular media, that spoke much about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda mentioned (referring to GroundUp), but did not convey to MPs which the SSA investigation were completed Nearly a yr earlier.

Proactive funding was at the heart in the looting in the lottery. It side-stepped the normal grant procedure. The NLC could alone detect a job to fund and appoint a non-financial gain organisation to supervise it.

Immediately after Nevhutanda to start with told Parliament in 2018 that he experienced requested the SSA to research the supposed breach, the South African Countrywide Editors Discussion board issued an announcement stating that his remarks mirrored “a very unsafe Perspective where the media is remaining blamed for that NLC’s inherent difficulties”.

“Rather than investigating why thousands and thousands cannot be accounted for, the NLC has as a substitute tried to cast doubt over the integrity from the journalists included and it has questioned the SSA to analyze their resources.”

Proactive projects created solution
Stability flaws discovered in the NLC grant funding technique through the SSA’s investigation, seem to happen to be made use of as an excuse with the NLC to eliminate all proactive-funded initiatives from its central grants process.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all Professional-actively funding projects was heightened to ‘mystery’ and assignments had been removed from the grant funding system and maintained manually beneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Details Business office, Govt Supervisor Legal so as to safeguard [the] facts,” Nene reported in her affidavit.

“There was a great deal of inside dialogue, with a lot of backwards and forwards, about what to do to plug the alleged leaks”, a source, who was within a senior placement with the NLC at time, informed GroundUp. “Ultimately, the decision was taken to remove all of the proactive tasks from the procedure and Restrict usage of A few people today”.

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

Maselwa, who resigned within the NLC various a long time back, has become implicated in corruption involving lottery funds. He acquired R4.three-million from lottery funds allotted to create a library and museum elaborate in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Songs and Arts Expo) which he used to create a dwelling in an upmarket gated growth in Pretoria. The home is among quite a few compensated for with lottery resources that were frozen following the Asset Forfeiture Device received a preservation purchase in December 2022.

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

Also implicated are previous board customers William Huma, who resigned following he was confronted with evidence of how he had profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, that has considering the fact that died.

When a new administration, such as the full board and govt, took about for the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they learned a “chaotic mess” from the documentation regarding proactive funding, Considerably of which was paper-primarily based. Key files had been lacking. Information held for safekeeping by doc storage organization Metrofile were signed out and in no way returned.

The NLC was able to Get well copies of some ผล หวย หุ้น documents from its Mimecast electronic mail archiving technique as well as the laptops in their assistants and assist employees.

Information reviews
In his one December 2018 letter, addressed to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has observed with grave concern attainable information safety breaches plus the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of private info received due to accomplishing Formal capabilities in the Commission by NLC workers. The routines are intended to undermine the integrity from the Fee while disrupting the effective capabilities [with the NLC] and resulting in insurmountable reputational damage towards the Fee since the custodian of personal information entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

His ask for for the SSA to analyze was supported in an affidavit by suspended NLC corporation secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.

Nene is at present struggling with a disciplinary inquiry soon after she was unsuccessful in lawful motion to set aside results of irregular expenditure on her enjoy.

The purpose 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 final results of those “breaches” (see at the end of this short article).

Nene stated that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that one of its workforce, Sello Qhino, had “provided her labeled NLC Details and persistently inspired her to supply the knowledge to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle on a series of dodgy lottery-funded jobs in Kuruman right after tries to lift the issue internally have been overlooked, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an eighteen November 2018 post while in the Each day Dispatch concerning the misappropriation of Lottery money, Nene mentioned the NLC recognized then suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an worker while in the NLC’s East London Business office, who was the associate as well as the mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s 3 young children.

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

“The popular Think about these article content is that [they contain] categorised facts associated with proactive funding tasks,” Nene said in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out of your relatives residence to go ahead and take heat off her and his little ones. Going through homelessness, he moved into an office in an empty manufacturing unit belonging to a pal.

Both equally Makatse and Qhino are participating in an NLC reparation method meant to recognise the hurt some individuals suffered on the palms with the NLC. Apologies and, occasionally, financial payment are envisioned.

“Some people today were really afflicted pretty negatively by this … This is admittedly agonizing,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz advised the Everyday Maverick last 12 months.

“I satisfied a few these people today. It had been just so coronary heart-wrenching that their complete life are already turned upside down,” explained Scholtz.

Among People she achieved had been Qhino and Makatse.

Safe and sound System desired for whistleblowers
The SSA discovered the absence at enough time of a proper channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to show on the media.

“Failure to possess a devoted anti-corruption channel will end in staff presenting this sort of situations outside of the NLC,” the SSA mentioned in its findings.

“Presented the magnitude of corruption in state establishments, it stays essential that it makes certain that the NLC complies with all security prescripts and that its emphasis is on guaranteeing that unlawful and irregular carry out is adequately mitigated in opposition to and by making sure an satisfactory channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward perform without having remaining intimidated.”

It proposed the NLC create a “safe channel” for workers to deliver info on any “untoward activity” that would not prevent or discourage employees from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers coverage, determined by the Guarded Disclosures Act twenty five of 2000, is really a need.”

Media experiences Nene shown
A ten December 2017 report in the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Overall health and Conditioning Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has labored closely with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and owner from the Limpopo Mirror, to expose NLC corruption. “The short article experienced things of data not out there in the general public area, thereby elevating issue on inner Data safety breaches. The allegations within the media were being independently investigated,” Nene claimed. “On the other hand, workers chargeable for divulging categorized information and facts have however to generally be recognized”;
A 28 January 2018 posting released through the Dally Dispatch “citing a lot of allegations from your Limpopo Mirror posting printed on 10 December 2017 plus a new allegation regarding a former employee through the title of Mzukisi Makatse. He was billed and summarily dismissed for your menace caused towards the organisation.”
A 16 November 2018 article within the Lowvelder with regard to the misappropriation of NLC resources involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has claimed how, Despite acquiring R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has not been completed. “The Lowvelder article contained labeled details concerning NLC policy, boosting additional problems of inside information protection breaches,” Nene reported in her affidavit. “The prima facie evidence regarding these allegations did not warrant an impartial Investigation, nevertheless [it] highlighted the heightened data protection risks within the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a few dodgy R27.five-million grant to Denzhe Primary Care, a hijacked NPO. Nene said GroundUp experienced verified in its story that it absolutely was according to leaked NLC files. This was Regardless of the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Marketing of Entry to Details) ask for for information with regards to the task, she stated