Former Nationwide Lotteries Fee (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda asked the Condition Protection Company (SSA) in December 2018 to analyze the leaking of files that uncovered lottery corruption.
The NLC’s business secretary at time detailed media stories she claimed ended up based on “stolen” information within an affidavit to the SSA.
The SSA did investigate. It found the data was not a matter of condition security and the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “enough motive” to the media to show it.
A different board and management has considering the fact that taken above the NLC and Up to now have taken measures to end corruption with the establishment.
A Point out Stability Agency (SSA) investigation discovered the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “presented sufficient motive” for publicity because of the media.

The probe into meant “facts protection breaches and sabotage of NLC functions” was undertaken right after then-NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda wrote for the SSA in December 2018 requesting it to investigate.

Here's

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by now 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 position of NLC employees during the alleged leaking of information, and Nene, in her affidavit determined particular media and stories that she claimed involved these leaks.

While in the letter outlining its conclusions, the SSA told the NLC that although preserving point out info was “a legal critical directed at defending the sovereignty and integrity with the condition” this only applied to appropriately classified information.

Even though it did not say so immediately, the SSA findings implied which the allegedly leaked data did not slide into this class.

Considerably, the SSA produced it crystal clear that the necessity to protect state data “does not avert any specific from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminality”.

The SSA investigation located the NLC facts involved in the alleged breach was “delicate and privileged in nature, but not labeled with regards to the prescripts of the Bare minimum Information and facts Stability Requirements (Overlook)”.

“The leakage with the applicable delicate official NLC facts into the media does not pose a menace to national stability,” the SSA claimed, incorporating the effect from the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report found “no evidence of the factual and incriminating mother nature in opposition to any in the suspected NLC workers that could be determined from the information and knowledge interrogated”.

Furthermore, it mentioned that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities within the NLC and at its beneficiaries does give enough motive to possess these uncovered in the media”.

Conspiracy claims
In 2020, Nevhutanda informed MPs for the duration of a session of Parliament’s trade, field and Competitors portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” during which details “stolen” from your NLC was sent into the US, where by he claimed it had been getting sold to fund a smear marketing campaign towards the NLC.

He was repeating similar statements he experienced Formerly made in Parliament, which involved ad hominem attacks on GroundUp which reporter but was cautious not to name possibly.

“I arrived listed here in this August household final calendar year and noted to honourable users that details about our beneficiaries has long been stolen and put in one condition in the usa,” he told MPs.

“We referred to as to the Point out Stability Company to return consider the make a difference due to the fact we have been finding stories that our facts is making dollars for media platforms and journalists,” he claimed. “There was discuss, obviously from one resource, a single media, that spoke A lot about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda said (referring to GroundUp), but did not tell MPs the SSA investigation were finished Pretty much a yr previously.

Proactive funding was at the guts in the looting of your lottery. It side-stepped the conventional grant course of action. The NLC could alone recognize a job to fund and appoint a non-profit organisation to oversee it.

Right after Nevhutanda 1st instructed Parliament in 2018 that he experienced requested the SSA to research the supposed breach, the South African National Editors Discussion board issued an announcement declaring that his remarks reflected “an extremely dangerous Angle where by the media is staying blamed to the NLC’s inherent difficulties”.

“Instead of investigating why tens of millions can't be accounted for, the NLC has alternatively tried to cast question to the integrity of the journalists concerned and has asked the SSA to investigate their sources.”

Proactive projects manufactured key
Security flaws identified inside the NLC grant funding technique in the SSA’s investigation, surface to happen to be utilised as an excuse through the NLC to remove all proactive-funded projects from its central grants method.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all Professional-actively funding initiatives was heightened to ‘mystery’ and assignments were faraway from the grant funding program and maintained manually beneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Details Workplace, Government Supervisor Legal so that you can safeguard [the] data,” Nene said in her affidavit.

“There was a great deal of interior dialogue, with a lot of backwards and forwards, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a resource, who was in a very senior position at the NLC at some time, instructed GroundUp. “Ultimately, the choice was taken to remove all of the proactive projects with the method and Restrict usage of a handful of persons”.

Some in that handful of individuals were implicated in corruption.

Maselwa, who resigned from the NLC a number of many years ago, is implicated in corruption involving lottery funds. He acquired R4.3-million from lottery cash allotted to build a library and museum advanced in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural New music and Arts Expo) which he used to construct a property in an upmarket gated growth in Pretoria. The house is one of several compensated for with lottery money that were frozen following the Asset Forfeiture Unit attained a preservation purchase in December 2022.

The politically-related Nevhutanda, who was appointed as being the NLC board chairperson by former President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was near to substantial-ups inside the ANC Management, former 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 own view.

Also implicated are former board customers William Huma, who resigned just after he was confronted with proof of how he experienced profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, who may have given that died.

Each time a new administration, including the complete board and executive, took above on the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they found a “chaotic mess” within the documentation relating to proactive funding, A great deal of which was paper-dependent. Essential documents ended up missing. Documents held for safekeeping by document storage firm Metrofile were signed out and never ever returned.

The NLC was capable of Get well copies of some หวย ออก paperwork from its Mimecast e-mail archiving system as well as laptops of their assistants and aid personnel.

Information studies
In his one December 2018 letter, addressed to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has observed with grave concern achievable information and facts security breaches along with the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of private information obtained because of doing official features while in the Commission by NLC personnel. The pursuits are intended to undermine the integrity in the Commission while disrupting the effective capabilities [on the NLC] and triggering insurmountable reputational harm to the Fee because the custodian of private facts entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

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

Nene is at this time going through a disciplinary inquiry after she was unsuccessful in legal action to put aside conclusions of irregular expenditure on her watch.

The objective of her affidavit, Nene claimed, was “to record the occasions which transpired associated with facts stability breaches within the Countrywide Lotteries Fee”.

She stated many information studies which she claimed have been the outcome of these “breaches” (see at the conclusion of this article).

Nene explained that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that one of its staff, Sello Qhino, had “presented her categorised NLC Information and facts and persistently inspired her to deliver the data to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle with a number of dodgy lottery-funded initiatives in Kuruman immediately after makes an attempt to boost the issue internally were disregarded, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an eighteen November 2018 write-up within the Daily Dispatch about the misappropriation of Lottery resources, Nene mentioned that the NLC determined and after that suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an personnel within the NLC’s East London Business, who was the spouse as well as mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s 3 little ones.

Rungqu and Makatse think Rungqu was punished mainly because Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and billed internally, with the NLC investing R470,000 on lawyers to symbolize it, but was located not guilty and allowed to return to operate.

“The popular Think about these article content is usually that [they contain] labeled data referring to proactive funding projects,” Nene reported in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out on the loved ones home to take the warmth off her and his youngsters. Facing homelessness, he moved into an Business office within an empty manufacturing facility belonging to a colleague.

Each Makatse and Qhino are taking part in an NLC reparation process intended to recognise the harm a number of people experienced within the arms of the NLC. Apologies and, in some instances, economic compensation are expected.

“Some folks had been truly affected very negatively by this … This is really distressing,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz instructed the Day-to-day Maverick final calendar year.

“I fulfilled a number of these individuals. It had been just so coronary heart-wrenching that their complete life are already turned the other way up,” explained Scholtz.

Among the People she achieved had been Qhino and Makatse.

Safe and sound System required for whistleblowers
The SSA observed the absence at some time of a proper channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn towards the media.

“Failure to have a dedicated anti-corruption channel will lead to personnel presenting these scenarios beyond the NLC,” the SSA explained in its results.

“Provided the magnitude of corruption in state establishments, it stays vital that it ensures that the NLC complies with all protection prescripts and that its focus is on guaranteeing that illegal and irregular carry out is adequately mitigated from and by making certain an suitable channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward conduct without the need of currently being intimidated.”

It recommended the NLC create a “safe channel” for employees to offer info on any “untoward exercise” that would not avoid or discourage staff members from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers plan, based on the Protected Disclosures Act 25 of 2000, is really a necessity.”

Media reviews Nene outlined
A 10 December 2017 report in the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Well being and Health and fitness Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has labored carefully with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and owner with the Limpopo Mirror, to reveal NLC corruption. “The article experienced components of data not offered in the general public domain, thus raising worry on interior Details stability breaches. The allegations inside the media ended up independently investigated,” Nene said. “Even so, workforce liable for divulging labeled facts have yet to become recognized”;
A 28 January 2018 write-up printed with the Dally Dispatch “citing quite a few allegations through the Limpopo Mirror write-up printed on ten December 2017 in addition to a new allegation regarding a former staff because of the name of Mzukisi Makatse. He was billed and summarily dismissed to the threat brought about for the organisation.”
A sixteen November 2018 write-up in the Lowvelder with regards to the misappropriation of NLC funds involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has documented how, Despite receiving R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has never been accomplished. “The Lowvelder posting contained classified info regarding NLC coverage, increasing further more fears of interior information security breaches,” Nene said in her affidavit. “The prima facie proof with regards to these allegations did not warrant an unbiased Investigation, however [it] highlighted the heightened information protection risks inside the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a couple of dodgy R27.5-million grant to Denzhe Most important Treatment, a hijacked NPO. Nene reported GroundUp experienced verified in its story that it had been based on leaked NLC paperwork. This was Regardless of the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Advertising of Entry to Facts) ask for for information regarding the undertaking, she said