Lottery bosses turned to Point out Protection Agency to research leaks

Lottery bosses turned to Point out Protection 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 investigate the leaking of documents that exposed lottery corruption.
The NLC’s corporation secretary at some time mentioned media reports she stated had been determined by “stolen” data in an affidavit for the SSA.
The SSA did look into. It located the information wasn't a issue of state protection and which the “prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities” gave “sufficient motive” for the media to reveal it.
A brand new board and administration has given that taken around the NLC and So far have taken actions to finish corruption at the institution.
A State Safety Agency (SSA) investigation observed which the “prevalence” of alleged corruption and irregularities involving the NLC and its beneficiaries “provided ample motive” for exposure from the media.

The probe into supposed “details safety breaches and sabotage of NLC operations” was carried out just 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 company secretary Nompumelelo Nene supporting the ask for, and
the security company’s “confidential” conclusions and suggestions.
Nevhutanda questioned the SSA to investigate the job of NLC personnel within the alleged leaking of knowledge, and Nene, in her affidavit identified distinct media and experiences that she claimed concerned these leaks.

From the letter outlining its conclusions, the SSA informed the NLC that even though protecting state data was “a authorized vital directed at protecting the sovereignty and integrity from the state” this only placed on correctly labeled facts.

Although it did not say so directly, the SSA conclusions implied the allegedly leaked info didn't drop into this category.

Significantly, the SSA built it obvious that the need to guard state facts “doesn't reduce any personal from blowing the whistle on corruption or irregular or criminality”.

The SSA investigation discovered the NLC information and facts involved in the alleged breach was “sensitive and privileged in character, but not categorized with regard to the prescripts of the Minimum Details Safety Expectations (Skip)”.

“The leakage in the appropriate sensitive official NLC facts into the media does not pose a danger to national security,” the SSA explained, incorporating that the influence in the breaches was reputational.

The SSA report located “no proof of a factual and incriminating mother nature versus any of your suspected NLC personnel that might be discovered from the information and knowledge interrogated”.

In addition, it said that “the prevalence of alleged corruption and irregularities in the NLC and at its beneficiaries does provide ample motive to get these uncovered from the media”.

Conspiracy statements
In 2020, Nevhutanda instructed MPs all through a session of Parliament’s trade, field and Competitors portfolio committee that there was “a conspiracy” by which information “stolen” from the NLC was despatched for the US, where he claimed it had been becoming bought to fund a smear campaign versus the NLC.

He was repeating equivalent promises he had Earlier made in Parliament, which provided advert hominem assaults on GroundUp and this reporter but was mindful not to call both.

“I arrived in this article On this August household past year and reported to honourable members that details about our beneficiaries is stolen and put in one point out in the usa,” he instructed MPs.

“We named about the State Stability Agency to come take a look at the subject due to the fact we are finding studies that our information is making cash for media platforms and journalists,” he reported. “There's been converse, needless to say from a person source, a single media, that spoke A great deal about proactive-funding,” Nevhutanda stated (referring to GroundUp), but failed to explain to MPs the SSA investigation had been accomplished Just about a calendar year previously.

Proactive funding was at the center on the looting on the lottery. It aspect-stepped the normal grant procedure. The NLC could alone establish a job to fund and appoint a non-financial gain organisation to oversee it.

After Nevhutanda to start with instructed Parliament in 2018 that he had requested the SSA to investigate the intended breach, the South African Countrywide Editors Forum issued a press release saying that his remarks reflected “an extremely unsafe attitude in which the media is remaining blamed for your NLC’s inherent troubles”.

“Rather than investigating why hundreds of thousands cannot be accounted for, the NLC has alternatively attempted to Solid doubt around the integrity from the journalists involved and it has questioned the SSA to research their sources.”

Proactive projects made top secret
Protection flaws recognized within the NLC grant funding system in the SSA’s investigation, look to have already been used 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 tasks was heightened to ‘solution’ and projects have been removed from the grant funding process and managed manually underneath the custody of [Tsietsi Maselwa] the NLC’s [then] Deputy Info Business office, Government Supervisor Lawful to be able to safeguard [the] facts,” Nene said in her affidavit.

“There was plenty of inside dialogue, with numerous forwards and backwards, about how to proceed to plug the alleged leaks”, a resource, who was in a senior position in the NLC at the time, informed GroundUp. “In the end, the choice was taken to eliminate the many proactive assignments from your program and Restrict use of a handful of people”.

Some in that handful of men and women have been implicated in corruption.

Maselwa, who resigned from the NLC various a long time back, has become implicated in corruption involving lottery resources. He acquired R4.three-million from lottery funds allocated to develop a library and museum complex in Kuruman (see Taung Cultural Audio and Arts Expo) which he made use of to build a residence in an upmarket gated progress in Pretoria. The assets is among several paid out for with lottery money which were frozen once the Asset Forfeiture Unit acquired a preservation order in December 2022.

The politically-connected Nevhutanda, who was appointed as the NLC board chairperson by former President Jacob Zuma in 2009 and was near large-ups during the ANC leadership, previous NLC previous Commissioner Thabang Mampane, and ex-Main working officer Phillemon Letwaba, have all been implicated while in the corruption which confused the NLC on their check out.

Also implicated are former board associates William Huma, who resigned right after he was confronted with evidence of how he had profited from corrupt lottery grants, and Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, that has due to the fact died.

Each time a new administration, such as the full board and executive, took about in the NLC in late 2022 and early 2023, they discovered a “chaotic mess” in the documentation referring to proactive funding, Considerably of which was paper-based mostly. Crucial paperwork ended up missing. Information held for safekeeping by document storage enterprise Metrofile were signed out and by no means returned.

The NLC was in the position to Recuperate copies of some ตรวจ หวย ลาว documents from its Mimecast e-mail archiving program and also the laptops in their assistants and aid personnel.

News reports
In his one December 2018 letter, resolved to then SSA Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, Nevhutanda wrote: “The NLC has pointed out with grave problem possible facts security breaches along with the unauthorised use and/or dissemination of private information acquired because of undertaking Formal capabilities during the Fee by NLC workforce. The activities are meant to undermine the integrity of the Fee when disrupting the helpful features [on the NLC] and leading to insurmountable reputational harm to the Fee because the custodian of private facts entrusted to it by its beneficiaries.”

His request with the SSA to investigate was supported within an affidavit by suspended NLC organization secretary, Nomphumelelo Nene.

Nene is currently going through a disciplinary inquiry following she was unsuccessful in authorized motion to put aside conclusions of irregular expenditure on her observe.

The objective of her affidavit, Nene said, was “to document the functions which transpired concerning information security breaches in the National Lotteries Commission”.

She listed numerous information experiences which she claimed were being the effects of such “breaches” (see at the end of this post).

Nene mentioned that a whistle-blower approached the NLC alleging that certainly one of its employees, Sello Qhino, experienced “supplied her categorised NLC Data and persistently inspired her to supply the data to GroundUp”.

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

Referring to an eighteen November 2018 post while in the Each day Dispatch concerning the misappropriation of Lottery money, Nene explained the NLC recognized then suspended Zintle Rungqu. She was an worker inside the NLC’s East London Business office, who was the spouse as well as the mom of whistleblower Mzukise Makatse’s 3 youngsters.

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

“The frequent Consider these posts is always that [they contain] classified details associated with proactive funding initiatives,” Nene reported in her affidavit.

When Runqu was suspended, Makatse moved out of the family members house to take the warmth off her and his little ones. Experiencing homelessness, he moved into an Office environment in an vacant manufacturing facility belonging to a pal.

Each Makatse and Qhino are taking part in an NLC reparation course of action intended to recognise the damage many people experienced on the arms in the NLC. Apologies and, occasionally, economic payment are expected.

“Some folks were being truly impacted incredibly negatively by this … This is really painful,” NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz advised the Day-to-day Maverick very last 12 months.

“I fulfilled a handful of these people today. It absolutely was just so coronary heart-wrenching that their entire lives have been turned the other way up,” claimed Scholtz.

Among the Individuals she achieved had been Qhino and Makatse.

Safe and sound System required for whistleblowers
The SSA located 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 devoted 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 stability prescripts and that its focus is on making sure that illegal and irregular perform is adequately mitigated versus and by making certain an adequate channel for whistle-blowers to report untoward carry out without 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 Guarded Disclosures Act 25 of 2000, is actually a necessity.”

Media reviews Nene detailed
A 10 December 2017 report within 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 of your Limpopo Mirror, to reveal NLC corruption. “The post experienced factors of data not readily available in the public domain, thus elevating worry on internal Facts security breaches. The allegations while in the media were being independently investigated,” Nene mentioned. “Having said that, workers to blame for divulging categorised info have but to get determined”;
A 28 January 2018 short article released via the Dally Dispatch “citing various allegations within the Limpopo Mirror posting released on 10 December 2017 as well as a new allegation referring to a previous worker from 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 about the misappropriation of NLC money involving a lottery-funded drug rehabilitation centre. GroundUp has claimed how, in spite of getting R27-million in lottery grants, the rehab has not been done. “The Lowvelder post contained categorized facts in terms of NLC policy, raising additional considerations of inner details safety breaches,” Nene mentioned in her affidavit. “The prima facie evidence with regards to these allegations didn't warrant an impartial Investigation, nevertheless [it] highlighted the heightened info stability challenges inside the NLC.”
A 22 November 2018 GroundUp expose about a dodgy R27.five-million grant to Denzhe Main Treatment, a hijacked NPO. Nene mentioned GroundUp experienced confirmed in its Tale that it was based upon leaked NLC documents. This was despite the NLC rejecting a PAIA (Advertising of Access to Data) ask for for particulars with regard to the venture, she explained