A decision over the Special Investigation Device’s (SIU) software to amend the 2020 Presidential Proclamation is expected by the tip of February.
The initial proclamation only authorized the SIU to analyze grants produced by the National Lotteries Fee (NLC) in between 1 January 2014 and 7 November 2020.
The SIU is trying to find a mandate to analyze lottery-funded projects that fall outside the house that interval.
In addition, it desires to investigate fraud and corruption related to the NLC’s procurement of services, which wasn't coated ltpbet beneath the initial 2020 proclamation.
The NLC has had new management and board because 2022 and continues to be helping the SIU with its investigations.
A choice on the appliance through the Unique Investigating Device (SIU) to the Modification of a 2020 Presidential Proclamation mandating it to analyze corruption involving the Nationwide Lotteries Fee (NLC) and its personnel, is predicted by the tip from the month.

This was verified from the Section of Justice’s spokesperson Kgalalelo Masibi. “The motivation was submitted on the Office late last yr which is being ready for submission on the Minister to propose the authorisation of your Modification into the proclamation. A call is often predicted by the tip of February 2025,” Masibi advised GroundUp.

The original proclamation only authorized the SIU to analyze grants created by the NLC in 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 provider providers, which ran to hundreds of a lot of rand.

In its determination to amend the proclamation, the SIU is seeking a mandate letting it to analyze lottery-funded tasks that slide outside the house the period coated by the initial proclamation, Considering that the NLC’s corruption ongoing after the proclamation was gazetted.

Although the SIU couldn’t immediately examine procurement, mainly because the first proclamation did not consist of it, it seconded two of its officials towards the NLC to aid it in its investigations into dodgy procurement.

GroundUp has also learned which the SIU plus the NLC not long ago signed a whole new letter of engagement extending the relationship concerning the two entities by a year. Their agreement 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 companies, signifies the SIU will have a leap get started in the probe into procurement In the event the proclamation is prolonged.

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

The 2020 proclamation contains an exception with the SIU to analyze alleged corruption that befell prior to or after the day of its publication …“but is applicable to, linked with, incidental or ancillary on the matters … or involve exactly the same folks, entities or contracts”.

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

The SIU Formerly told GroundUp it had been investigating around 700 dodgy job grants, with more tip-offs coming in. Many NLC staff members are facing disciplinary expenses regarding their alleged involvement in dodgy procurement. Other folks resigned once they had been charged. The SIU has also reported most of All those included for the police.

In 2022 the SIU explained to Parliament’s Trade, Sector and Levels of competition portfolio committee that it had been investigating dodgy lottery grants valued at above R1.four-billion. Final calendar year SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi advised the committee that the worth of dodgy grants below investigation experienced developed to above R2-billion.

SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago declined to touch upon the applying to extend the proclamation.

Dodgy procurement
In 2023, the Auditor-Standard instructed the NLC’s administration to deal with “important inner Regulate deficiencies discovered to further improve procurement and deal administration”. This arrived once the Auditor-Typical’s NLC audit in 2021 uncovered greater than R23-million in irregular expenditure and R36-million in accounting mistakes created in earlier a long time. Items worsened the following year, with the Auditor-Typical’s 2022 management report around 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 from the Auditor-Normal, and by auditors appointed through the NLC, ended up irregular expenditure on info know-how and sky-high investing on attorneys. The NLC struggled to reply a published parliamentary dilemma about its expenditure on lawful service fees, as vital data files with aspects of multimillion-rand litigation expenditure have vanished.

Another space of worry could be the tens of an incredible number of rand in shelling out on media and communications, using a disproportionate quantity compensated to your Sunday Planet newspaper.

Countless rand in dodgy payments were being also manufactured to NLC services suppliers, including a R498,000 payment to provider service provider Neo Consulting to investigate a computer hack that under no circumstances happened.

ProEthics, which suggested 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 providers on the NLC’s Guidance — together with a R1.7-million payment for any flash mob that in no way transpired.

The results of independent investigations commissioned by the NLC’s new board and government happen to be vital in formulating disciplinary fees versus implicated personnel, including NLC firm secretary Nompumelelo Nene.

Nene is billed with alleged irregularities within the appointments of and payments to many company vendors. She can also be accused of delivering “Wrong or incomplete information and facts in submissions justifying deviations from procurement procedures”.