A decision about the Specific Investigation Device’s (SIU) application to amend the 2020 Presidential Proclamation is anticipated by the tip of February.
The first proclamation only authorized the SIU to investigate grants made by the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) among 1 January 2014 and 7 November 2020.
The SIU is trying to find a mandate to analyze lottery-funded jobs that tumble outside the house that interval.
It also wishes to analyze fraud and corruption connected with the NLC’s procurement of companies, which was not protected ruay less than the first 2020 proclamation.
The NLC has experienced new management and board given that 2022 and has become assisting the SIU with its investigations.
A call on the applying with the Particular Investigating Device (SIU) for that amendment of the 2020 Presidential Proclamation mandating it to investigate corruption involving the Nationwide Lotteries Fee (NLC) and its personnel, is expected by the end of your month.
This was confirmed via the Division of Justice’s spokesperson Kgalalelo Masibi. “The drive was submitted towards the Division late very last calendar year and it is currently being organized for submission to the Minister to suggest the authorisation in the amendment for the proclamation. A decision could be anticipated by the end of February 2025,” Masibi told GroundUp.
The first proclamation only permitted the SIU to research grants made by the NLC concerning one January 2014 and 7 November 2020. This remaining the SIU hamstrung when investigating fraud and corruption involving the NLC’s procurement of companies and appointment of support providers, which ran to many hundreds of an incredible number of rand.
In its inspiration to amend the proclamation, the SIU is trying to get a mandate making it possible for it to analyze lottery-funded projects that drop exterior the interval coated by the initial proclamation, For the reason that NLC’s corruption ongoing following the proclamation was gazetted.
Even though the SIU couldn’t instantly look into procurement, because the original proclamation didn't include it, it seconded two of its officers to your NLC to help it in its investigations into dodgy procurement.
GroundUp has also uncovered that the SIU and also the NLC lately signed a new letter of engagement extending the connection among The 2 entities by a yr. Their deal expired at the end of December 2024.
The NLC’s probe, which incorporates the help of your SIU’s seconded officials and a number of other damning investigations by unbiased audit organizations, usually means the SIU could have a bounce start within a probe into procurement Should the proclamation is prolonged.
The NLC and also the SIU have also been inundated with tip-offs. Many are from whistleblowers about dodgy grant and supply chain administration fraud and corruption, some of which occurred following November 2020.
The 2020 proclamation consists of an exception for your SIU to investigate alleged corruption that befell right before or following the date of its publication …“but is relevant to, related with, incidental or ancillary on the issues … or require the identical persons, entities or contracts”.
The SIU’s drive also seeks a mandate to investigate fraud and corruption involving the NLC’s offer chain administration as well as the procurement of services.
The SIU Formerly explained to GroundUp it was investigating in excess of seven-hundred dodgy project grants, with a lot more suggestion-offs coming in. Many NLC team are facing disciplinary expenses regarding their alleged involvement in dodgy procurement. Other folks resigned once they had been charged. The SIU has also claimed lots of People concerned towards the law enforcement.
In 2022 the SIU instructed Parliament’s Trade, Sector and Opposition portfolio committee that it was investigating dodgy lottery grants valued at about R1.4-billion. Very last year SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi instructed the committee that the value 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-Normal instructed the NLC’s administration to address “crucial inside Command deficiencies identified to improve procurement and contract management”. This arrived once the Auditor-General’s NLC audit in 2021 uncovered greater than R23-million in irregular expenditure and R36-million in accounting mistakes produced in prior many years. Issues worsened the subsequent 12 months, Along with the Auditor-Basic’s 2022 administration report to the NLC revealing virtually R57-million in irregular expenditure as a result of contravention of source chain management laws.
Among the issues flagged in damning experiences through the Auditor-Typical, and by auditors appointed through the NLC, were being irregular expenditure on info technological know-how and sky-higher shelling out on attorneys. The NLC struggled to reply a published parliamentary dilemma about its expenditure on lawful service fees, as key files with details of multimillion-rand litigation expenditure have vanished.
Another area of issue could be the tens of a lot of rand in shelling out on media and communications, using a disproportionate quantity compensated for the Sunday World newspaper.
A lot of rand in dodgy payments had been also built to NLC support vendors, such as a R498,000 payment to assistance provider Neo Consulting to investigate a computer hack that under no circumstances transpired.
ProEthics, which advised 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 service vendors to the NLC’s Recommendations — like a R1.7-million payment for just a flash mob that under no circumstances occurred.
The conclusions of impartial investigations commissioned by the NLC’s new board and government happen to be significant in formulating disciplinary costs from implicated employees, together with NLC organization secretary Nompumelelo Nene.
Nene is charged with alleged irregularities during the appointments of and payments to a number of support suppliers. She is usually accused of providing “Untrue or incomplete details in submissions justifying deviations from procurement processes”.