Previous Countrywide Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda asked the Condition Stability Agency (SSA) in December 2018 to analyze the leaking of documents that uncovered lottery corruption.
The NLC’s firm secretary at time mentioned media stories she said have been based upon “stolen” facts in an affidavit for your SSA.
The SSA did investigate. It identified the knowledge was not a subject of state safety and that the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “enough motive” for that media to expose it.
A fresh board and administration has because taken over the NLC and Up to now have taken measures to end corruption for the institution.
A Condition Safety Company (SSA) investigation discovered the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “supplied sufficient motive” for publicity through the media.

The probe into intended “information security breaches and sabotage of NLC operations” was undertaken soon after then-NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda wrote into the SSA in December 2018 requesting it to investigate.

Here is

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by at present suspended NLC corporation secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the ask for, and
the security company’s “private” results and recommendations.
Nevhutanda asked the SSA to analyze the job of NLC staff in the alleged leaking of data, and Nene, in her affidavit recognized particular media and experiences that she claimed involved these leaks.

From the letter outlining its findings, the SSA instructed the NLC that whilst preserving state information and facts was “a legal critical targeted at protecting the sovereignty and integrity in the condition” this only applied to properly categorized details.

Although it did not say so immediately, the SSA findings implied that the allegedly leaked details did not tumble into this category.

Noticeably, the SSA produced it clear that the necessity to safeguard point out information “would not protect against any unique from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminality”.

The SSA investigation observed which the NLC details involved with the alleged breach was “delicate and privileged in nature, although not categorised in terms of the prescripts of the Least Information and facts Protection Benchmarks (Overlook)”.

“The leakage on the relevant delicate Formal NLC data to the media will not pose a risk to countrywide security,” the SSA explained, incorporating the effects with the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report found “no evidence of the factual and incriminating character towards any of your suspected NLC staff members that would be recognized from the information and details interrogated”.

It also mentioned that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities inside the NLC and at its beneficiaries does deliver ample motive to acquire this sort of exposed from the media”.

Conspiracy promises
In 2020, Nevhutanda told MPs for the duration of a session of Parliament’s trade, field and Competitiveness portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” wherein information “stolen” from the NLC was despatched into the US, where by he claimed it absolutely was currently being sold to fund a smear marketing campaign towards the NLC.

He was repeating comparable promises he had previously built in Parliament, which involved ad hominem assaults on GroundUp and this reporter but was careful not to call either.

“I came in this article In this particular August dwelling previous calendar year and documented to honourable customers that information about our beneficiaries has become stolen and place in one condition in the united states,” he explained to MPs.

“We called around the Condition Stability Company to come back check into the matter since we have been receiving reports that our info is generating funds for media platforms and journalists,” he explained. “There's been discuss, needless to say from a single source, a person media, that spoke A great deal about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda reported (referring to GroundUp), but did not tell MPs the SSA investigation had been concluded Virtually a calendar year previously.

Proactive funding was at the guts on the looting of the lottery. It aspect-stepped the traditional grant method. The NLC could alone recognize a venture to fund and appoint a non-income organisation to supervise it.

After Nevhutanda very first advised Parliament in 2018 that he experienced questioned the SSA to analyze the intended breach, the South African Nationwide Editors Forum issued a statement stating that his remarks mirrored “an incredibly perilous Angle where the media is being blamed with the NLC’s inherent challenges”.

“In lieu of investigating why thousands and thousands cannot be accounted for, the NLC has in its place attempted to Forged doubt over the integrity on the journalists associated and has questioned the SSA to investigate their sources.”

Proactive initiatives made mystery
Stability flaws discovered within the NLC grant funding technique during the SSA’s investigation, seem to are made use of being an justification by the NLC to get rid of all proactive-funded assignments from its central grants technique.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all pro-actively funding projects was heightened to ‘secret’ and projects had been faraway from the grant funding method and managed manually under the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Information and facts Business office, Government Supervisor Lawful as a way to safeguard [the] facts,” Nene said in her affidavit.

“There was lots of inner discussion, with plenty of forwards and backwards, about what to do to plug the alleged leaks”, a source, who was inside a senior situation at the NLC at some time, instructed GroundUp. “Eventually, the decision was taken to get rid of the many proactive tasks from the program and Restrict use of A few people today”.

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

Maselwa, who resigned within the NLC quite a few years back, has long been implicated in corruption involving lottery money. He received R4.3-million from lottery resources allocated to develop a library and museum advanced in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Tunes and Arts Expo) which he utilised to construct a household in an upmarket gated enhancement in Pretoria. The residence is among quite a few paid out for with lottery money that were frozen once the Asset Forfeiture Unit received a preservation order in December 2022.

The politically-linked Nevhutanda, who was appointed because the NLC board chairperson by previous President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was near to higher-ups from the ANC Management, former NLC previous Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-Main running officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated while in the corruption which overcome the NLC on their observe.

Also implicated are former board members William Huma, who resigned following he was confronted with proof of how he experienced profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, who has given that died.

Whenever a new administration, such as the total board and executive, took around within the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they learned a “chaotic mess” during the documentation associated with proactive funding, much of which was paper-dependent. Important paperwork ended up lacking. Data files held for safekeeping by document storage organization Metrofile had been signed out and hardly ever returned.

The NLC was in a position to Recuperate copies of some หวย ออก paperwork from its Mimecast email archiving technique and the laptops of their assistants and help staff members.

Information experiences
In his one December 2018 letter, dealt with to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has pointed out with grave issue probable information security breaches and also the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of confidential information obtained on account of undertaking official capabilities from the Commission by NLC employees. The things to do are intended to undermine the integrity of the Commission while disrupting the helpful functions [of your NLC] and triggering insurmountable reputational hurt for the Fee given that the custodian of personal data entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

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

Nene is now facing a disciplinary inquiry right after she was unsuccessful in legal action to put aside conclusions of irregular expenditure on her watch.

The purpose of her affidavit, Nene stated, was “to record the occasions which transpired relating to info stability breaches with the National Lotteries Fee”.

She detailed numerous information reports which she claimed were being the effects of those “breaches” (see at the conclusion of this text).

Nene mentioned that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that one of its personnel, Sello Qhino, experienced “provided her categorized NLC Facts and persistently inspired her to deliver the data to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle with a number of dodgy lottery-funded jobs in Kuruman following attempts to raise The difficulty internally were being disregarded, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an 18 November 2018 report while in the Day-to-day Dispatch with regard to the misappropriation of Lottery cash, Nene mentioned that the NLC discovered then suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an employee during the NLC’s East London Business office, who was the companion along with the mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s 3 children.

Rungqu and Makatse believe Rungqu was punished for the reason that Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and charged internally, With all the NLC spending R470,000 on lawyers to characterize it, but was found not responsible and permitted to return to operate.

“The popular Think about these articles is [they include] classified info referring to proactive funding tasks,” Nene stated in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out from the family members home to go ahead and take heat off her and his children. Struggling with homelessness, he moved into an Office environment in an vacant factory belonging to a colleague.

Each Makatse and Qhino are taking part in an NLC reparation procedure meant to recognise the hurt many people endured in the fingers on the NLC. Apologies and, occasionally, financial compensation are expected.

“Some folks have been seriously influenced incredibly negatively by this … This is de facto agonizing,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz instructed the Day-to-day Maverick previous yr.

“I achieved two or three these persons. It had been just so coronary heart-wrenching that their complete lives are turned the wrong way up,” said Scholtz.

Between These she fulfilled were Qhino and Makatse.

Safe and sound System necessary for whistleblowers
The SSA uncovered the absence at the time of a correct channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to show into the media.

“Failure to possess a dedicated anti-corruption channel will lead to personnel presenting these types of cases beyond the NLC,” the SSA said in its conclusions.

“Specified the magnitude of corruption in point out institutions, it remains crucial that it makes certain that the NLC complies with all protection prescripts and that its focus is on making sure that illegal and irregular perform is adequately mitigated against and by guaranteeing an satisfactory channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward perform with no becoming intimidated.”

It proposed that the NLC create a “Secure channel” for workers to deliver information on any “untoward action” that may not avert or discourage workforce from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers policy, determined by the Shielded Disclosures Act twenty five of 2000, is a necessity.”

Media studies Nene shown
A 10 December 2017 report while in the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Wellbeing and Exercise Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has worked closely with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and operator with the Limpopo Mirror, to reveal NLC corruption. “The post experienced factors of information not available in the general public domain, therefore raising issue on inner Information and facts safety breaches. The allegations in the media ended up independently investigated,” Nene said. “On the other hand, employees to blame for divulging categorised info have nevertheless to generally be identified”;
A 28 January 2018 post revealed with the Dally Dispatch “citing a lot of allegations within the Limpopo Mirror posting posted on 10 December 2017 as well as a new allegation referring to a former worker with the identify of Mzukisi Makatse. He was billed and summarily dismissed for the threat brought about to the organisation.”
A sixteen November 2018 article while in the Lowvelder in regards to the misappropriation of NLC resources involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has claimed how, in spite of receiving R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab hasn't been concluded. “The Lowvelder write-up contained categorized information in terms of NLC coverage, elevating further concerns of inside data stability breaches,” Nene stated in her affidavit. “The prima facie evidence regarding these allegations didn't warrant an unbiased Investigation, on the other hand [it] highlighted the heightened details protection challenges throughout the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a few dodgy R27.five-million grant to Denzhe Key Care, a hijacked NPO. Nene said GroundUp experienced verified in its story that it was depending on leaked NLC documents. This was despite the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Advertising of Entry to Data) request for details regarding the project, she reported