Lottery bosses turned to Condition Safety Agency to research leaks

Lottery bosses turned to Condition Safety Agency to research leaks

Blog Article

Previous National Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda requested the Point out Security Company (SSA) in December 2018 to investigate the leaking of documents that exposed lottery corruption.
The NLC’s firm secretary at enough time stated media reports she said were depending on “stolen” data in an affidavit with the SSA.
The SSA did examine. It identified the information wasn't a issue of point out protection and which the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “sufficient motive” with the media to reveal it.
A brand new board and administration has because taken about the NLC and So far have taken actions to finish corruption in the institution.
A Point out Security Agency (SSA) investigation uncovered that the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “presented enough motive” for publicity by 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 this time suspended NLC corporation secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the request, and
the safety agency’s “private” findings and proposals.
Nevhutanda requested the SSA to analyze the part of NLC employees from the alleged leaking of information, and Nene, in her affidavit determined particular media and studies that she claimed associated these leaks.

Inside the letter outlining its results, the SSA explained to the NLC that whilst safeguarding condition information and facts was “a lawful crucial geared toward safeguarding the sovereignty and integrity on the condition” this only applied to appropriately categorised information and facts.

Even though it did not say so straight, the SSA conclusions implied the allegedly leaked data did not slide into this class.

Noticeably, the SSA produced it clear that the necessity to safeguard condition info “doesn't protect against any personal from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminality”.

The SSA investigation identified the NLC details involved in the alleged breach was “delicate and privileged in nature, but not categorized with regards to the prescripts of your Bare minimum Information Security Requirements (Miss out on)”.

“The leakage from the suitable sensitive official NLC information to the media does not pose a menace to nationwide stability,” the SSA claimed, incorporating that the impression in the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report found “no evidence of the factual and incriminating nature from any from the suspected NLC workforce that can be discovered from the information and knowledge interrogated”.

Additionally, it said that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities in the NLC and at its beneficiaries does deliver enough motive to have this sort of exposed inside the media”.

Conspiracy statements
In 2020, Nevhutanda advised MPs through a session of Parliament’s trade, marketplace and Level of competition portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” wherein information and facts “stolen” with the NLC was sent to the US, wherever he claimed it was being marketed to fund a smear marketing campaign in opposition to the NLC.

He was repeating similar statements he experienced previously designed in Parliament, which integrated advertisement hominem assaults on GroundUp which reporter but was cautious not to name both.

“I arrived in this article Within this August property very last calendar year and reported to honourable members that details about our beneficiaries has become stolen and place in one state in the usa,” he explained to MPs.

“We termed over the Point out Safety Agency to return investigate the issue since we've been receiving reviews that our information is making cash for media platforms and journalists,” he claimed. “There's been converse, obviously from just one resource, a single media, that spoke Significantly about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda said (referring to GroundUp), but did not convey to MPs that the SSA investigation were done Virtually a calendar year before.

Proactive funding was at the heart on the looting of your lottery. It side-stepped the normal grant method. The NLC could by itself establish a challenge to fund and appoint a non-revenue organisation to oversee it.

Following Nevhutanda very first informed Parliament in 2018 that he had questioned the SSA to analyze the intended breach, the South African National Editors Discussion board issued a press release declaring that his remarks reflected “an extremely perilous Frame of mind in which the media is becoming blamed with the NLC’s inherent troubles”.

“As opposed to investigating why tens of millions cannot be accounted for, the NLC has in its place tried to Solid question over the integrity in the journalists included and it has questioned the SSA to analyze their resources.”

Proactive projects created mystery
Protection flaws determined during the NLC grant funding procedure throughout the SSA’s investigation, appear to have already been employed as an justification because of the NLC to get rid of all proactive-funded tasks from its central grants method.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all Professional-actively funding assignments was heightened to ‘key’ and projects ended up removed from the grant funding procedure and taken care of manually underneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Data Workplace, Government Supervisor Legal in an effort to safeguard [the] information,” Nene mentioned in her affidavit.

“There was loads of internal discussion, with a lot of backwards and forwards, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a supply, who was in a very senior posture at the NLC at the time, told GroundUp. “In the end, the choice was taken to eliminate each of the proactive initiatives from the method and limit use of a handful of individuals”.

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

Maselwa, who resigned from the NLC various a long time back, has actually been implicated in corruption involving lottery cash. He received R4.three-million from lottery funds allocated to make a library and museum sophisticated in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural New music and Arts Expo) which he utilized to create a dwelling in an upmarket gated advancement in Pretoria. The house is among various compensated for with lottery resources which were frozen once the Asset Forfeiture Device received a preservation buy in December 2022.

The politically-linked Nevhutanda, who was appointed as being the NLC board chairperson by former President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was close to high-ups within the ANC Management, former NLC former Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-Main working officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated within the corruption which confused the NLC on their view.

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

Every time a new administration, such as the whole board and government, took over on the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they found out a “chaotic mess” within the documentation regarding proactive funding, A great deal of which was paper-primarily based. Crucial paperwork have been missing. Information held for safekeeping by document storage business Metrofile were signed out and never returned.

The NLC was in a position to Get better copies of some ตรวจ หวย รัฐบาล files from its Mimecast email archiving program plus the laptops in their assistants and support employees.

News reviews
In his 1 December 2018 letter, addressed to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has noted with grave concern possible information stability breaches plus the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of confidential details obtained on account of doing official features inside the Fee by NLC personnel. The activities are meant to undermine the integrity of the Commission though disrupting the powerful capabilities [from the NLC] and resulting in insurmountable reputational hurt for the Commission given that the custodian of private info entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

His request to the SSA to research was supported in an affidavit by suspended NLC firm secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.

Nene is now struggling with a disciplinary inquiry after she was unsuccessful in lawful motion to set aside findings of irregular expenditure on her watch.

The goal of her affidavit, Nene reported, was “to report the functions which transpired associated with info stability breaches with the National Lotteries Fee”.

She listed several news stories which she claimed had been the effects of these “breaches” (see at the end of this article).

Nene mentioned that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that amongst its staff, Sello Qhino, had “furnished her categorised NLC Information and persistently encouraged her to provide the information to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle on a number of dodgy lottery-funded jobs in Kuruman after tries to lift The problem internally have been dismissed, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an 18 November 2018 posting from the Each day Dispatch in regards to the misappropriation of Lottery money, Nene said the NLC identified and afterwards suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an worker during the NLC’s East London Business office, who was the partner plus the mom of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s three young children.

Rungqu and Makatse consider Rungqu was punished since Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and billed internally, While using the NLC investing R470,000 on lawyers to symbolize it, but was identified not guilty and allowed to return to work.

“The common Think about these articles is that [they contain] categorised facts associated with proactive funding assignments,” Nene stated in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out of your relatives residence to go ahead and take heat off her and his small children. Going through homelessness, he moved into an Workplace within an vacant factory belonging to a buddy.

Both Makatse and Qhino are participating in an NLC reparation approach meant to recognise the harm many people endured for the arms of the NLC. Apologies and, in some cases, economic compensation are expected.

“Some people had been actually affected extremely negatively by this … This is actually distressing,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz explained to the Day-to-day Maverick final year.

“I fulfilled a number of these people. It absolutely was just so heart-wrenching that their total lives are turned upside down,” claimed Scholtz.

Amongst All those she met have been Qhino and Makatse.

Harmless platform necessary for whistleblowers
The SSA observed the absence at some time of a proper channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn for the media.

“Failure to have a devoted anti-corruption channel will cause staff members presenting these types of cases beyond the NLC,” the SSA reported in its conclusions.

“Supplied the magnitude of corruption in condition institutions, it continues to be important that it makes sure that the NLC complies with all security prescripts Which its target is on ensuring that unlawful and irregular perform is adequately mitigated against and by guaranteeing an sufficient channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward perform without having remaining intimidated.”

It advisable which the NLC establish a “Risk-free channel” for workers to provide information on any “untoward activity” that could not reduce or discourage staff from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers coverage, based upon the Shielded Disclosures Act twenty five of 2000, is usually a need.”

Media reports Nene listed
A ten December 2017 report during the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Health and Fitness Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has labored carefully with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and owner of your Limpopo Mirror, to reveal NLC corruption. “The write-up experienced aspects of information not out there in the public area, thereby increasing concern on interior Information security breaches. The allegations within the media had been independently investigated,” Nene stated. “Nonetheless, staff liable for divulging classified information have still to get recognized”;
A 28 January 2018 posting revealed from the Dally Dispatch “citing various allegations through the Limpopo Mirror article revealed on ten December 2017 along with a new allegation associated with a previous staff from the title of Mzukisi Makatse. He was charged and summarily dismissed for that danger caused towards the organisation.”
A 16 November 2018 write-up while in the Lowvelder with regard to the misappropriation of NLC resources involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has claimed how, Despite getting R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has never been completed. “The Lowvelder posting contained labeled details with regards to NLC plan, elevating additional fears of inner information and facts safety breaches,” Nene reported in her affidavit. “The prima facie evidence regarding these allegations didn't warrant an independent Investigation, even so [it] highlighted the heightened information and facts security pitfalls 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 Tale that it absolutely was dependant on leaked NLC files. This was Regardless of the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Marketing of Entry to Details) request for details concerning the project, she reported