Lottery bosses turned to Point out Protection Company to research leaks

Lottery bosses turned to Point out Protection Company to research leaks

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Previous Countrywide Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda requested the Condition Protection Company (SSA) in December 2018 to research the leaking of paperwork that exposed lottery corruption.
The NLC’s enterprise secretary at some time mentioned media reports she said were depending on “stolen” details in an affidavit with the SSA.
The SSA did examine. It identified the information wasn't a make a difference of point out security and which the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “ample motive” for that media to expose it.
A completely new board and administration has considering that taken more than the NLC and thus far have taken steps to finish corruption in the establishment.
A Point out Security Agency (SSA) investigation found the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “provided ample motive” for exposure via the media.

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

Here is

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by presently suspended NLC business secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the request, and
the safety agency’s “confidential” conclusions and suggestions.
Nevhutanda requested the SSA to investigate the job of NLC team from the alleged leaking of knowledge, and Nene, in her affidavit identified precise media and studies that she claimed associated these leaks.

While in the letter outlining its conclusions, the SSA advised the NLC that while shielding state data was “a lawful crucial targeted at preserving the sovereignty and integrity from the condition” this only applied to properly labeled facts.

Even though it didn't say so specifically, the SSA results implied the allegedly leaked data did not fall into this classification.

Significantly, the SSA made it clear that the necessity to defend state information “would not avert any personal from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or illegal activity”.

The SSA investigation observed that the NLC data involved in the alleged breach was “sensitive and privileged in mother nature, although not categorized with regard to the prescripts from the Least Information Safety Expectations (Pass up)”.

“The leakage of the pertinent sensitive official NLC info towards the media will not pose a risk to national security,” the SSA said, introducing the affect on the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report identified “no proof of a factual and incriminating nature versus any on the suspected NLC workers that could be determined from the information and facts interrogated”.

Furthermore, it mentioned that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities inside the NLC and at its beneficiaries does present ample motive to get these types of exposed inside the media”.

Conspiracy statements
In 2020, Nevhutanda instructed MPs during a session of Parliament’s trade, business and Levels of competition portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” wherein information and facts “stolen” from the NLC was despatched to your US, wherever he claimed it had been getting sold to fund a smear marketing campaign in opposition to the NLC.

He was repeating equivalent promises he had Beforehand designed in Parliament, which incorporated advert hominem attacks on GroundUp which reporter but was careful not to name possibly.

“I came below Within this August household last yr and described to honourable users that details about our beneficiaries has actually been stolen and set in a single point out in the usa,” he explained to MPs.

“We known as within the State Security Company to return take a look at the make any difference because we've been finding studies that our details is producing money for media platforms and journalists,” he reported. “There was speak, of course from just one source, just one media, that spoke A lot about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda reported (referring to GroundUp), but did not tell MPs the SSA investigation were accomplished Nearly a yr before.

Proactive funding was at the heart of the looting with the lottery. It side-stepped the normal grant system. The NLC could itself establish a project to fund and appoint a non-revenue organisation to oversee it.

Just after Nevhutanda first told Parliament in 2018 that he had asked the SSA to investigate the supposed breach, the South African Nationwide Editors Forum issued a statement stating that his remarks mirrored “a very risky Frame of mind where by the media is currently being blamed for that NLC’s inherent troubles”.

“As opposed to investigating why tens of millions can not be accounted for, the NLC has instead tried to cast question over the integrity of the journalists involved and it has requested the SSA to investigate their resources.”

Proactive jobs built solution
Protection flaws recognized in the NLC grant funding procedure over the SSA’s investigation, look to happen to be made use of as an justification from the NLC to get rid of all proactive-funded projects from its central grants technique.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all Professional-actively funding projects was heightened to ‘mystery’ and jobs were removed from the grant funding program and preserved manually underneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Information Workplace, Executive Supervisor Lawful so that you can safeguard [the] information,” Nene said in her affidavit.

“There was lots of internal dialogue, with a great deal of backwards and forwards, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a supply, who was within a senior position within the NLC at enough time, told GroundUp. “Eventually, the decision was taken to get rid of all of the proactive initiatives in the process and Restrict access to a handful of persons”.

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

Maselwa, who resigned with the NLC several many years ago, has become implicated in corruption involving lottery cash. He gained R4.three-million from lottery money allocated to construct a library and museum sophisticated in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Audio and Arts Expo) which he utilized to create a household within an upmarket gated development in Pretoria. The home is one of numerous paid out for with lottery money that were frozen after the Asset Forfeiture Unit attained a preservation get 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 in the ANC Management, former NLC previous Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-chief operating officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated during the corruption which overcome the NLC on their enjoy.

Also implicated are former board customers William Huma, who resigned right after he was confronted with proof of how he had profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, who's got because died.

Any time a new administration, including the complete board and govt, took over with the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they found out a “chaotic mess” within the documentation associated with proactive funding, A great deal of which was paper-based. Important documents had been missing. Files held for safekeeping by doc storage enterprise Metrofile were signed out and under no circumstances returned.

The NLC was ready to Get well copies of some ตรวจ files from its Mimecast email archiving program plus the laptops in their assistants and aid staff.

Information experiences
In his one December 2018 letter, dealt with to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has observed with grave worry attainable data safety breaches as well as the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of confidential information and facts received because of performing official functions from the Commission by NLC staff members. The routines are meant to undermine the integrity in the Fee while disrupting the productive capabilities [in the NLC] and producing insurmountable reputational harm for the Commission as being the custodian of private info entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

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

Nene is at the moment experiencing a disciplinary inquiry just after she was unsuccessful in lawful action to set aside conclusions of irregular expenditure on her enjoy.

The objective of her affidavit, Nene mentioned, was “to record the events which transpired concerning data security breaches within the Nationwide Lotteries Fee”.

She detailed various news experiences which she claimed have been the results of those “breaches” (see at the conclusion of this short article).

Nene explained that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that one of its personnel, Sello Qhino, experienced “furnished her classified NLC Info and persistently encouraged her to provide the information to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle on a series of dodgy lottery-funded projects in Kuruman following attempts to lift The difficulty internally ended up overlooked, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an 18 November 2018 article in the Day by day Dispatch with regard to the misappropriation of Lottery cash, Nene stated which the NLC recognized and then suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an worker in the NLC’s East London Office environment, who was the companion as well as mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s three little ones.

Rungqu and Makatse believe Rungqu was punished due to the fact Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and billed internally, While using the NLC investing R470,000 on attorneys to characterize it, but was uncovered not guilty and permitted to return to work.

“The widespread Think about these content is [they include] labeled facts associated with proactive funding tasks,” Nene reported in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out on the family members property to go ahead and take heat off her and his small children. Going through homelessness, he moved into an office within an vacant manufacturing unit belonging to a pal.

Both of those Makatse and Qhino are taking part in an NLC reparation process intended to recognise the hurt some people experienced with the hands with the NLC. Apologies and, sometimes, economic compensation are envisioned.

“Some persons have been really affected very negatively by this … This is really distressing,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz instructed the Each day Maverick previous year.

“I achieved a handful of these men and women. It was just so coronary heart-wrenching that their whole lives happen to be turned the other way up,” stated Scholtz.

Among the Individuals she fulfilled were Qhino and Makatse.

Risk-free System needed for whistleblowers
The SSA located the absence at some time of an appropriate channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn towards the media.

“Failure to have a devoted anti-corruption channel will cause personnel 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 safety prescripts Which its emphasis is on ensuring that unlawful and irregular conduct is sufficiently mitigated towards and by making sure an ample channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward conduct devoid of becoming intimidated.”

It proposed that the NLC set up a “Harmless channel” for employees to supply info on any “untoward exercise” that may not stop or discourage staff members from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers plan, based on the Guarded Disclosures Act 25 of 2000, is really a necessity.”

Media reviews Nene detailed
A 10 December 2017 report within the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Wellness and Physical fitness Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has labored carefully with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and owner of the Limpopo Mirror, to show NLC corruption. “The report had things of information not out there in the public area, thereby increasing concern on inner Information safety breaches. The allegations during the media have been independently investigated,” Nene reported. “Nonetheless, staff members accountable for divulging categorized facts have yet to become recognized”;
A 28 January 2018 write-up revealed with the Dally Dispatch “citing quite a few allegations through the Limpopo Mirror report revealed on 10 December 2017 and a new allegation relating to a previous employee by the identify of Mzukisi Makatse. He was charged and summarily dismissed with the risk caused to your organisation.”
A 16 November 2018 short article inside the Lowvelder concerning the misappropriation of NLC cash involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has reported how, Regardless of obtaining R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab hasn't been completed. “The Lowvelder report contained categorised information with regards to NLC coverage, increasing even further fears of interior information and facts stability breaches,” Nene reported in her affidavit. “The prima facie proof regarding these allegations did not warrant an unbiased Investigation, having said that [it] highlighted the heightened information and facts protection hazards within the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a few dodgy R27.5-million grant to Denzhe Primary Treatment, a hijacked NPO. Nene stated GroundUp experienced confirmed in its story that it absolutely was based upon leaked NLC documents. This was despite the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Advertising of Access to Facts) request for information concerning the task, she said