SIU applies to increase lottery corruption probe

SIU applies to increase lottery corruption probe

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A choice within the Specific Investigation Unit’s (SIU) application to amend the 2020 Presidential Proclamation is anticipated by the top of February.
The original proclamation only permitted the SIU to research grants produced by the Countrywide Lotteries Fee (NLC) in between 1 January 2014 and 7 November 2020.
The SIU is looking for a mandate to research lottery-funded initiatives that fall exterior that interval.
It also wants to analyze fraud and corruption relevant to the NLC’s procurement of companies, which was not included lottovip underneath the first 2020 proclamation.
The NLC has experienced new management and board given that 2022 and has become aiding the SIU with its investigations.
A decision on the applying because of the Specific Investigating Unit (SIU) with the Modification of the 2020 Presidential Proclamation mandating it to research corruption involving the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) and its workers, is predicted by the end with the month.

This was confirmed via the Division of Justice’s spokesperson Kgalalelo Masibi. “The drive was submitted for the Section late past year and is also remaining prepared for submission for the Minister to advocate the authorisation with the Modification to your proclamation. A call is often predicted by the tip of February 2025,” Masibi advised GroundUp.

The initial proclamation only allowed the SIU to analyze grants created by the NLC among 1 January 2014 and seven November 2020. This still left the SIU hamstrung when investigating fraud and corruption involving the NLC’s procurement of providers and appointment of services vendors, which ran to countless countless rand.

In its commitment to amend the proclamation, the SIU is in search of a mandate permitting it to research lottery-funded jobs that fall outdoors the period of time included by the original proclamation, Because the NLC’s corruption continued following 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 on the NLC to help it in its investigations into dodgy procurement.

GroundUp has also realized 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 the SIU’s seconded officials and several other damning investigations by independent audit corporations, implies the SIU should have a jump start off inside of a probe into procurement When the proclamation is extended.

The NLC along with 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 transpired soon after November 2020.

The 2020 proclamation involves an exception for that SIU to research alleged corruption that occurred just before or after the day of its publication …“but is appropriate to, connected with, incidental or ancillary into the matters … or involve the same people, entities or contracts”.

The SIU’s inspiration also seeks a mandate to analyze fraud and corruption involving the NLC’s supply chain management and the procurement of companies.

The SIU Beforehand informed GroundUp it had been investigating around 700 dodgy venture grants, with far more idea-offs coming in. Quite a few NLC employees are going through disciplinary fees regarding their alleged involvement in dodgy procurement. Other folks resigned once they have been charged. The SIU has also reported most of Those people included on the police.

In 2022 the SIU explained to Parliament’s Trade, Marketplace and Levels of competition portfolio committee that it was investigating dodgy lottery grants valued at over R1.4-billion. Past yr SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi told the committee that the value of dodgy grants less than investigation had grown to about 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 deal with “essential inner Regulate deficiencies discovered to further improve procurement and deal administration”. This arrived once the Auditor-Normal’s NLC audit in 2021 uncovered more than R23-million in irregular expenditure and R36-million in accounting errors made in previous years. Matters worsened the next yr, With all the Auditor-General’s 2022 administration report within the NLC revealing nearly R57-million in irregular expenditure mainly because of the contravention of provide chain administration legislation.

Between the problems flagged in damning studies by the Auditor-Standard, and by auditors appointed by the NLC, had been irregular expenditure on information and facts engineering and sky-significant spending on lawyers. The NLC struggled to answer a created parliamentary query about its expenditure on legal charges, as crucial files with particulars of multimillion-rand litigation expenditure have vanished.

Yet another region of issue is the tens of many rand in expending on media and communications, by using a disproportionate sum compensated on the Sunday Globe newspaper.

Many rand in dodgy payments have been also made to NLC provider vendors, which includes a R498,000 payment to company provider Neo Consulting to investigate a computer hack that under no circumstances happened.

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 ProEthics more than R28.4-million. The company, subsequently, reported it compensated other provider companies around the NLC’s instructions — including a R1.seven-million payment for any flash mob that never took place.

The findings of impartial investigations commissioned from the NLC’s new board and govt have already been vital in formulating disciplinary expenses versus implicated employees, together with NLC business secretary Nompumelelo Nene.

Nene is charged with alleged irregularities from the appointments of and payments to several services companies. She can be accused of giving “Phony or incomplete information in submissions justifying deviations from procurement procedures”.