A call about the Specific Investigation Device’s (SIU) application to amend the 2020 Presidential Proclamation is predicted by the top of February.
The initial proclamation only allowed the SIU to analyze grants created by the Countrywide Lotteries Fee (NLC) among 1 January 2014 and 7 November 2020.
The SIU is in search of a mandate to analyze lottery-funded initiatives that slide exterior that interval.
In addition, it needs to research fraud and corruption relevant to the NLC’s procurement of services, which wasn't included ruay underneath the original 2020 proclamation.
The NLC has had new management and board given that 2022 and has actually been aiding the SIU with its investigations.
A decision on the application from the Unique Investigating Device (SIU) to the amendment of the 2020 Presidential Proclamation mandating it to investigate corruption involving the Countrywide Lotteries Commission (NLC) and its workforce, is anticipated by the top in the thirty day period.
This was verified with the Department of Justice’s spokesperson Kgalalelo Masibi. “The enthusiasm was submitted to the Division late very last calendar year and it is currently being organized for submission to the Minister to suggest the authorisation on the amendment for the proclamation. A choice could be anticipated by the end of February 2025,” Masibi informed GroundUp.
The original proclamation only authorized the SIU to research grants made by the NLC between one January 2014 and 7 November 2020. This remaining the SIU hamstrung when investigating fraud and corruption involving the NLC’s procurement of products and services and appointment of assistance companies, which ran to a huge selection of millions of rand.
In its commitment to amend the proclamation, the SIU is in search of a mandate permitting it to research lottery-funded projects that drop outside the house the period lined by the first proclamation, since the NLC’s corruption continued after the proclamation was gazetted.
Although the SIU couldn’t right examine procurement, for the reason that the first proclamation didn't involve it, it seconded two of its officers to your NLC to help it in its investigations into dodgy procurement.
GroundUp has also figured out the SIU along with the NLC just lately signed a whole new letter of engagement extending the relationship between The 2 entities by a year. Their deal expired at the end of December 2024.
The NLC’s probe, which incorporates the support of the SIU’s seconded officials and several other damning investigations by independent audit providers, implies the SIU will have a leap get started within a probe into procurement If your proclamation is prolonged.
The NLC and also the SIU have also been inundated with suggestion-offs. Many are from whistleblowers about dodgy grant and supply chain management fraud and corruption, a number of which transpired soon after November 2020.
The 2020 proclamation incorporates an exception with the SIU to analyze alleged corruption that passed off right before or following the date of its publication …“but is related to, related with, incidental or ancillary to your matters … or contain a similar people, entities or contracts”.
The SIU’s determination also seeks a mandate to analyze fraud and corruption involving the NLC’s provide chain administration and also the procurement of services.
The SIU Formerly explained to GroundUp it was investigating in excess of seven-hundred dodgy venture grants, with far more idea-offs coming in. Several NLC workers are going through disciplinary prices with regards to their alleged involvement in dodgy procurement. Others resigned when they were being billed. The SIU has also described lots of People included for the police.
In 2022 the SIU explained to Parliament’s Trade, Marketplace and Levels of competition portfolio committee that it had been investigating dodgy lottery grants valued at more than R1.four-billion. Final calendar year SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi advised the committee that the worth of dodgy grants beneath investigation experienced grown to in excess of R2-billion.
SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago declined to touch upon the application to extend the proclamation.
Dodgy procurement
In 2023, the Auditor-Typical instructed the NLC’s management to address “significant interior Manage deficiencies determined to boost procurement and deal administration”. This arrived following the Auditor-Normal’s NLC audit in 2021 uncovered more than R23-million in irregular expenditure and R36-million in accounting errors produced in earlier a long time. Issues worsened the following calendar year, While using the Auditor-Normal’s 2022 management report around the NLC revealing nearly R57-million in irregular expenditure mainly because of the contravention of offer chain administration legislation.
Among the the issues flagged in damning experiences with the Auditor-General, and by auditors appointed because of the NLC, were irregular expenditure on facts engineering and sky-significant spending on lawyers. The NLC struggled to answer a prepared parliamentary problem about its expenditure on lawful service fees, as key files with particulars of multimillion-rand litigation expenditure have vanished.
Yet another location of concern will be the tens of countless rand in spending on media and communications, which has a disproportionate total paid out to the Sunday Environment newspaper.
An incredible number of rand in dodgy payments had been also built to NLC provider vendors, like a R498,000 payment to service supplier Neo Consulting to analyze a pc hack that in no way took place.
ProEthics, which encouraged the NLC on ethics when the organisation was overwhelmed by rampant corruption, was also used to launder payments to support companies. The NLC paid out ProEthics in excess of R28.4-million. The business, consequently, mentioned it paid other services providers on the NLC’s Guidance — together with a R1.seven-million payment for any flash mob that by no means transpired.
The results of unbiased investigations commissioned with the NLC’s new board and executive are crucial in formulating disciplinary charges in opposition to implicated staff, like NLC business secretary Nompumelelo Nene.
Nene is charged with alleged irregularities from the appointments of and payments to a number of provider suppliers. She is usually accused of providing “Untrue or incomplete details in submissions justifying deviations from procurement processes”.