A decision around the Particular Investigation Unit’s (SIU) software to amend the 2020 Presidential Proclamation is anticipated by the end of February.
The initial proclamation only allowed the SIU to research grants made by the Countrywide Lotteries Commission (NLC) between one January 2014 and seven November 2020.
The SIU is in search of a mandate to analyze lottery-funded assignments that slide outside that time period.
It also needs to research fraud and corruption connected to the NLC’s procurement of services, which was not covered hihuay under the initial 2020 proclamation.
The NLC has had new management and board considering that 2022 and has long been helping the SIU with its investigations.
A choice on the appliance through the Specific Investigating Unit (SIU) for your Modification of a 2020 Presidential Proclamation mandating it to investigate corruption involving the Countrywide Lotteries Fee (NLC) and its personnel, is expected by the top of your thirty day period.

This was confirmed via the Section of Justice’s spokesperson Kgalalelo Masibi. “The inspiration was submitted to the Division late past yr and is currently being ready for submission into the Minister to advise the authorisation of your amendment towards the proclamation. A choice may be predicted by the top of February 2025,” Masibi informed GroundUp.

The original proclamation only permitted the SIU to research grants created by the NLC amongst 1 January 2014 and 7 November 2020. This left the SIU hamstrung when investigating fraud and corruption involving the NLC’s procurement of solutions and appointment of services providers, which ran to many hundreds of millions of rand.

In its motivation to amend the proclamation, the SIU is trying to get a mandate allowing for it to investigate lottery-funded projects that drop outside the house the time period protected by the original proclamation, Because the NLC’s corruption ongoing after the proclamation was gazetted.

Although the SIU couldn’t specifically look into procurement, due to the fact the initial proclamation did not include things like it, it seconded two of its officers to your NLC to aid it in its investigations into dodgy procurement.

GroundUp has also learned that the SIU and the NLC lately signed a brand new letter of engagement extending the relationship concerning The 2 entities by a yr. Their deal expired at the end of December 2024.

The NLC’s probe, which includes the guidance on the SIU’s seconded officials and a number of other damning investigations by unbiased audit providers, signifies the SIU may have a soar begin in a very probe into procurement When the proclamation is extended.

The NLC plus the SIU have also been inundated with idea-offs. Most are from whistleblowers about dodgy grant and provide chain management fraud and corruption, a few of which occurred immediately after November 2020.

The 2020 proclamation consists of an exception to the SIU to research alleged corruption that passed off right before or once the day of its publication …“but is suitable to, linked with, incidental or ancillary on the matters … or involve the identical persons, entities or contracts”.

The SIU’s motivation also seeks a mandate to research fraud and corruption involving the NLC’s offer chain management as well as procurement of products and services.

The SIU Earlier told GroundUp it had been investigating over seven hundred dodgy challenge grants, with much more suggestion-offs coming in. Quite a few NLC employees are going through disciplinary rates about their alleged involvement in dodgy procurement. Other individuals resigned after they have been charged. The SIU has also documented a lot of These involved to the law enforcement.

In 2022 the SIU advised Parliament’s Trade, Business and Opposition portfolio committee that it was investigating dodgy lottery grants valued at about R1.4-billion. Past 12 months SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi informed the committee that the worth of dodgy grants beneath investigation experienced grown to about R2-billion.

SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago declined to comment on the appliance to increase the proclamation.

Dodgy procurement
In 2023, the Auditor-Standard instructed the NLC’s administration to address “vital inner Regulate deficiencies discovered to enhance procurement and agreement management”. This arrived following the Auditor-Typical’s NLC audit in 2021 uncovered greater than R23-million in irregular expenditure and R36-million in accounting mistakes produced in earlier several years. Points worsened the subsequent calendar year, While using the Auditor-Typical’s 2022 administration report within the NLC revealing almost R57-million in irregular expenditure due to the contravention of offer chain management laws.

Among the issues flagged in damning experiences through the Auditor-General, and by auditors appointed because of the NLC, had been irregular expenditure on facts technologies and sky-significant investing on attorneys. The NLC struggled to answer a published parliamentary dilemma about its expenditure on lawful fees, as important information with specifics of multimillion-rand litigation expenditure have vanished.

A different place of worry is definitely the tens of countless rand in investing on media and communications, with a disproportionate amount paid to the Sunday Planet newspaper.

Countless rand in dodgy payments were being also manufactured to NLC services suppliers, such as a R498,000 payment to assistance provider Neo Consulting to research a pc 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 service providers. The NLC paid ProEthics more than R28.4-million. The organization, in turn, stated it paid other service vendors on the NLC’s instructions — including a R1.seven-million payment for just a flash mob that hardly ever transpired.

The results of independent investigations commissioned via the NLC’s new board and government happen to be vital in formulating disciplinary fees towards implicated team, like NLC company secretary Nompumelelo Nene.

Nene is charged with alleged irregularities from the appointments of and payments to numerous assistance vendors. She is also accused of offering “Wrong or incomplete information and facts in submissions justifying deviations from procurement procedures”.