SIU relates to increase lottery corruption probe

SIU relates to increase lottery corruption probe

Blog Article

A call to the Unique Investigation Unit’s (SIU) software to amend the 2020 Presidential Proclamation is anticipated by the end of February.
The original proclamation only allowed the SIU to research grants created by the Countrywide Lotteries Fee (NLC) in between 1 January 2014 and 7 November 2020.
The SIU is seeking a mandate to investigate lottery-funded tasks that drop outdoors that time period.
It also needs to analyze fraud and corruption related to the NLC’s procurement of providers, which was not coated ltpbet beneath the initial 2020 proclamation.
The NLC has had new management and board considering that 2022 and has actually been helping the SIU with its investigations.
A choice on the appliance with the Specific Investigating Unit (SIU) for your Modification of the 2020 Presidential Proclamation mandating it to research corruption involving the Countrywide Lotteries Commission (NLC) and its staff, is predicted by the tip from the thirty day period.

This was confirmed via the Section of Justice’s spokesperson Kgalalelo Masibi. “The inspiration was submitted to your Department late final yr and is particularly becoming prepared for submission to your Minister to suggest the authorisation with the Modification towards the proclamation. A choice is often envisioned by the top of February 2025,” Masibi told GroundUp.

The original proclamation only allowed the SIU to research grants made by the NLC among 1 January 2014 and 7 November 2020. This left the SIU hamstrung when investigating fraud and corruption involving the NLC’s procurement of expert services and appointment of assistance companies, which ran to many many rand.

In its drive to amend the proclamation, the SIU is in search of a mandate enabling it to analyze lottery-funded assignments that fall outside the house the period of time covered by the initial proclamation, since the NLC’s corruption continued after the proclamation was gazetted.

Even though the SIU couldn’t specifically investigate procurement, simply because the initial proclamation didn't contain it, it seconded two of its officers towards the NLC to assist it in its investigations into dodgy procurement.

GroundUp has also uncovered the SIU as well as NLC lately signed a fresh letter of engagement extending the relationship among the two entities by a year. Their deal expired at the end of December 2024.

The NLC’s probe, which includes the assistance of the SIU’s seconded officers and a number of other damning investigations by independent audit companies, means the SIU will have a soar commence in a probe into procurement if the proclamation is extended.

The NLC and also the SIU have also been inundated with idea-offs. Most are from whistleblowers about dodgy grant and supply chain management fraud and corruption, a number of which happened following November 2020.

The 2020 proclamation involves an exception with the SIU to analyze alleged corruption that took place just before or following the date of its publication …“but is applicable to, related with, incidental or ancillary for the matters … or involve exactly the same persons, entities or contracts”.

The SIU’s motivation also seeks a mandate to analyze fraud and corruption involving the NLC’s supply chain administration plus the procurement of providers.

The SIU Beforehand instructed GroundUp it was investigating about 700 dodgy task grants, with much more suggestion-offs coming in. Several NLC workers are facing disciplinary fees regarding their alleged involvement in dodgy procurement. Many others resigned when they were being billed. The SIU has also claimed many of These involved towards the police.

In 2022 the SIU explained to Parliament’s Trade, Business and Levels of competition portfolio committee that it had been investigating dodgy lottery grants valued at more than R1.four-billion. Past 12 months SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi told the committee that the worth of dodgy grants beneath investigation experienced grown to over R2-billion.

SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago declined to touch upon the application to increase the proclamation.

Dodgy procurement
In 2023, the Auditor-Basic instructed the NLC’s administration to address “critical internal Management deficiencies discovered to improve procurement and agreement administration”. This arrived after the Auditor-Typical’s NLC audit in 2021 uncovered a lot more than R23-million in irregular expenditure and R36-million in accounting faults built in prior a long time. Factors worsened the next 12 months, Along with the Auditor-Normal’s 2022 management report within the NLC revealing almost R57-million in irregular expenditure a result of the contravention of provide chain management legislation.

Amongst the problems flagged in damning reviews through the Auditor-Basic, and by auditors appointed by the NLC, ended up irregular expenditure on info engineering and sky-superior paying on attorneys. The NLC struggled to reply a penned parliamentary issue about its expenditure on authorized service fees, as important information with aspects of multimillion-rand litigation expenditure have vanished.

Yet another place of worry is the tens of countless rand in investing on media and communications, using a disproportionate sum paid into the Sunday Earth newspaper.

An incredible number of rand in dodgy payments had been also made to NLC assistance providers, together with a R498,000 payment to provider service provider Neo Consulting to investigate a computer hack that never occurred.

ProEthics, which recommended the NLC on ethics if the organisation was confused by rampant corruption, was also utilized to launder payments to services companies. The NLC paid out ProEthics in excess of R28.4-million. The corporate, consequently, explained it paid out other support companies around the NLC’s Directions — such as a R1.seven-million payment for your flash mob that never ever happened.

The conclusions of impartial investigations commissioned from the NLC’s new board and govt have already been important in formulating disciplinary fees against implicated staff members, like NLC company secretary Nompumelelo Nene.

Nene is charged with alleged irregularities while in the appointments of and payments to quite a few services companies. She is usually accused of supplying “Fake or incomplete data in submissions justifying deviations from procurement processes”.