Lottery bosses turned to Condition Safety Agency to research leaks

Lottery bosses turned to Condition Safety Agency to research leaks

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Previous National Lotteries Commission (NLC) board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda questioned the State Safety Agency (SSA) in December 2018 to research the leaking of paperwork that exposed lottery corruption.
The NLC’s company secretary at the time outlined media reviews she explained have been 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 “ample motive” for that media to expose it.
A completely new board and management has since taken in excess of the NLC and thus far have taken actions to finish corruption within the institution.
A State Safety Agency (SSA) investigation located which the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “provided ample motive” for publicity by the media.

The probe into supposed “info security 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 is

Nevhutanda’s letter,
an affidavit by presently suspended NLC business secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the ask for, and
the security company’s “confidential” conclusions and suggestions.
Nevhutanda questioned the SSA to investigate the role of NLC staff members inside the alleged leaking of data, and Nene, in her affidavit identified precise media and reports that she claimed included these leaks.

In the letter outlining its findings, the SSA advised the NLC that though guarding condition facts was “a lawful very important aimed at defending the sovereignty and integrity in the condition” this only applied to correctly categorised information and facts.

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

Considerably, the SSA made it crystal clear that the need to secure condition information “isn't going to stop any unique from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or illegal activity”.

The SSA investigation observed which the NLC details involved with the alleged breach was “delicate and privileged in mother nature, although not classified with regards to the prescripts with the Minimum amount Information Security Requirements (Skip)”.

“The leakage in the pertinent sensitive Formal NLC facts to your media won't pose a risk to national security,” the SSA reported, introducing which the affect in the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report identified “no evidence of a factual and incriminating mother nature from any on the suspected NLC personnel that may be recognized from the information and facts interrogated”.

Furthermore, it stated that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities throughout the NLC and at its beneficiaries does offer ample motive to acquire these exposed inside the media”.

Conspiracy statements
In 2020, Nevhutanda instructed MPs for the duration of a session of Parliament’s trade, business and competition portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” during which data “stolen” from the NLC was despatched to the US, in which he claimed it was becoming bought to fund a smear campaign against the NLC.

He was repeating identical statements he experienced Formerly made in Parliament, which involved ad hominem assaults on GroundUp which reporter but was mindful not to call either.

“I came below Within this August household last yr and described to honourable users that information about our beneficiaries is stolen and place in one condition in the united states,” he advised MPs.

“We named to the Condition Safety Agency to return look into the matter because we've been finding studies that our info is generating dollars for media platforms and journalists,” he explained. “There has been communicate, naturally from 1 supply, one media, that spoke Substantially about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda said (referring to GroundUp), but did not notify MPs which the SSA investigation had been finished Just about a calendar year before.

Proactive funding was at the guts from the looting in the lottery. It aspect-stepped the conventional grant approach. The NLC could by itself recognize a task to fund and appoint a non-income organisation to oversee it.

Right after Nevhutanda very first informed Parliament in 2018 that he experienced requested the SSA to investigate the intended breach, the South African National Editors Discussion board issued an announcement saying that his remarks reflected “a particularly perilous Frame of mind exactly where the media is remaining blamed for your NLC’s inherent complications”.

“As an alternative to investigating why tens of millions cannot be accounted for, the NLC has alternatively attempted to Forged question on the integrity from the journalists concerned and has asked the SSA to investigate their resources.”

Proactive jobs made magic formula
Security flaws identified in the NLC grant funding procedure in the SSA’s investigation, show up to are utilised as an excuse from the NLC to eliminate all proactive-funded tasks from its central grants system.

“In or about 21 December 2019, the classification of all pro-actively funding jobs was heightened to ‘mystery’ and projects have been faraway from the grant funding system and preserved manually underneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Information Business office, Government Supervisor Authorized so that you can safeguard [the] information,” Nene stated in her affidavit.

“There was plenty of inner discussion, with plenty of back and forth, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a supply, who was in the senior placement on the NLC at the time, explained to GroundUp. “In the long run, the decision was taken to eliminate each of the proactive projects with the program and Restrict entry to A few individuals”.

Some in that handful of men and women were implicated in corruption.

Maselwa, who resigned through the NLC several a long time in the past, has been implicated in corruption involving lottery funds. He acquired R4.3-million from lottery cash allocated to develop a library and museum elaborate in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural New music and Arts Expo) which he made use of to make a dwelling within an upmarket gated progress in Pretoria. The assets is among numerous paid for with lottery resources that were frozen once the Asset Forfeiture Unit received a preservation buy in December 2022.

The politically-linked Nevhutanda, who was appointed as the NLC board chairperson by previous President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was close to higher-ups within the ANC leadership, former NLC former Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-Main functioning officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated while in the corruption which overwhelmed the NLC on their look at.

Also implicated are former board members William Huma, who resigned immediately after he was confronted with proof of how he had profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, who may have since died.

When a new administration, such as the total board and government, took in excess of for the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they uncovered a “chaotic mess” within the documentation relating to proactive funding, Substantially of which was paper-based. Critical documents have been missing. Files held for safekeeping by document storage corporation Metrofile had been signed out and hardly ever returned.

The NLC was capable to Get better copies of some หวย ลาว ออก วัน นี้ สด files from its Mimecast email archiving process and the laptops of their assistants and assist team.

Information experiences
In his one December 2018 letter, resolved to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has mentioned with grave concern possible information and facts protection breaches and the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of private details received on account of executing Formal features inside the Fee by NLC employees. The functions are meant to undermine the integrity from the Commission even though disrupting the powerful features [on the NLC] and triggering insurmountable reputational damage for the Commission since the custodian of personal information entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

His ask for for that SSA to research was supported within an affidavit by suspended NLC corporation secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.

Nene is at this time experiencing a disciplinary inquiry right after she was unsuccessful in lawful action to put aside conclusions of irregular expenditure on her enjoy.

The objective of her affidavit, Nene said, was “to file the events which transpired regarding info protection breaches at the Nationwide Lotteries Commission”.

She mentioned various news reviews which she claimed have been the outcome of those “breaches” (see at the end of this information).

Nene stated that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that one among its personnel, Sello Qhino, had “offered her classified NLC Information and persistently inspired her to offer the information to GroundUp”.

Qhino, who blew the whistle with a series of dodgy lottery-funded jobs in Kuruman immediately after attempts to boost The difficulty internally were dismissed, was subsequently fired.

Referring to an eighteen November 2018 post during the Day-to-day Dispatch concerning the misappropriation of Lottery cash, Nene reported that the NLC recognized and afterwards suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an personnel during the NLC’s East London Place of work, who was the associate and the mother of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s three youngsters.

Rungqu and Makatse imagine Rungqu was punished due to the fact Makatse blew the whistle. She was suspended and charged internally, With all the NLC investing R470,000 on legal professionals to characterize it, but was located not guilty and allowed to return to operate.

“The common Consider these posts is usually that [they entail] categorised info regarding proactive funding jobs,” Nene stated in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out on the spouse and children house to take the heat off her and his youngsters. Going through homelessness, he moved into an Office environment in an empty manufacturing unit belonging to an acquaintance.

Both of those Makatse and Qhino are participating in an NLC reparation method meant to recognise the hurt a lot of people endured at the palms in the NLC. Apologies and, occasionally, fiscal payment are anticipated.

“Some persons had been seriously affected really negatively by this … This is admittedly painful,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz informed the Day by day Maverick last year.

“I met a number of these men and women. It had been just so heart-wrenching that their entire lives happen to be turned upside down,” said Scholtz.

Among Those people she achieved have been Qhino and Makatse.

Protected System wanted for whistleblowers
The SSA located the absence at the time of a suitable channel for whistleblowers to report corruption led them to turn to your media.

“Failure to have a committed anti-corruption channel will bring about personnel presenting this kind of scenarios beyond the NLC,” the SSA mentioned in its results.

“Specified the magnitude of corruption in state institutions, it remains vital that it makes sure that the NLC complies with all protection prescripts Which its concentration is on guaranteeing that unlawful and irregular carry out is adequately mitigated towards and by making certain an sufficient channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward conduct without having getting intimidated.”

It advisable that the NLC build a “Harmless channel” for employees to provide info on any “untoward activity” that would not reduce or discourage staff members from blowing the whistle. A whistle-blowers policy, dependant on the Safeguarded Disclosures Act twenty five of 2000, is actually a need.”

Media reviews Nene mentioned
A ten December 2017 report while in the Limpopo Mirror about corruption and maladministration involving the Lottery-funded Vhembe Health and Health Centre in Limpopo. GroundUp has labored intently with Anton van Zyl, an investigative reporter and operator from the Limpopo Mirror, to expose NLC corruption. “The write-up had features of information not offered in the public domain, thus boosting issue on inside Data safety breaches. The allegations while in the media have been independently investigated,” Nene mentioned. “Nevertheless, employees responsible for divulging labeled info have nonetheless for being discovered”;
A 28 January 2018 write-up posted through the Dally Dispatch “citing a lot of allegations in the Limpopo Mirror report posted on ten December 2017 along with a new allegation regarding a previous personnel because of the title of Mzukisi Makatse. He was charged and summarily dismissed for your risk triggered for the organisation.”
A 16 November 2018 article in the Lowvelder regarding the misappropriation of NLC funds involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has claimed how, Despite obtaining R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has never been concluded. “The Lowvelder write-up contained categorised data with regards to NLC plan, raising even more fears of inner facts stability breaches,” Nene stated in her affidavit. “The prima facie evidence with regard to these allegations did not warrant an independent Investigation, even so [it] highlighted the heightened information and facts stability threats throughout the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose a few dodgy R27.5-million grant to Denzhe Principal Care, a hijacked NPO. Nene stated GroundUp experienced verified in its story that it absolutely was based upon leaked NLC paperwork. This was Regardless of the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Marketing of Access to Information) request for particulars about the job, she mentioned