The Distinctive Investigating Device has recognized five accounting corporations that served loot Lottery resources. Graphic: Lisa Nelson

The Exclusive Investigating Device has identified 5 accounting and auditing corporations that served non-gain firms loot Lottery cash meant for “excellent leads to”.
The accounting firms compiled fraudulent economic statements employed by these corporations to submit an application for Lottery funding, the SIU told Parliament.
Acting Main countrywide investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe explained the SIU would take motion to obtain these firms blacklisted.
A 4-calendar year probe with the หวย วัน นี้ Exclusive Investigating Device (SIU) has exposed five accounting and auditing corporations that assisted dodgy non-income corporations loot a huge selection of many rands designed for “good causes” in the Lottery.

These firms were being described through the SIU as “Skilled enablers,” who “compiled fraudulent monetary statements” which were utilized by the companies to submit an application for Lottery funding.

The five businesses were being named in Parliament because of the SIU’s acting chief national investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe. They are really TTP Consulting, Dzata Accountants, Magodi Consulting, Mageba Ntuli Consulting and Tafta Consulting and Accounting Products and services.

Fraudulent financials made by these five accounting companies helped practically 40 companies get their arms on lottery funding, based on the SIU presentation.

Determined by a Device containing info with all lottery grants due to the fact 2002, these businesses acquired above R314-million in funding.

“These NPCs have been funded by the Nationwide Lotteries Commission (NLC) nevertheless the money weren't made use of for their intended function,” Xesibe told Parliament’s Trade, Marketplace and Competition Portfolio Committee final 7 days.

The SIU, the Hawks and the Nationwide Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had been in Parliament to report back to the committee on development in bringing folks and organisations associated with looting the lottery to e-book.

Xesibe told GroundUp the SIU meant to lodge complaints towards the accounting corporations concerned and was examining if these corporations were registered and, If that's so, with which Expert bodies.

“We want these providers to become blacklisted,” she informed GroundUp.

To qualify for Lottery funding, an organisation was necessary to produce two many years of once-a-year monetary statements, Xesibe discussed in Parliament.

However, as an ongoing 6-year investigation into lottery corruption by GroundUp has exposed, hijacked non-earnings organisations (NPOs) or new shelf non-financial gain corporations (NPCs) with no financial keep track of documents were being utilized to make an application for funding.

In some circumstances, Virtually identical financial statements have been made for unrelated organisations, often with only the names of the organisations transformed, GroundUp’s investigation discovered.

Paperwork submitted by legitimate NPCs for unsuccessful grant applications have been normally employed by new or hijacked NPCs and NPOs to apply for funding. The main points and paperwork from the unsuccessful applicants had been supplied by senior Lottery officers to your dodgy applicants.

With cursory or - often - no verification, these dodgy applicants have been awarded countless rands in grants. Sometimes additional tranches of cash were paid out with out A lot examining about the development of tasks.

The overwhelming majority of these grants ended up manufactured by way of proactive funding, which was at the guts of the looting with the lottery. Proactive funding allowed the Minister of Trade, Marketplace and Levels of competition, or the NLC along side its board, to determine will cause to fund without very first necessitating an application. This was stopped whenever a new NLC board was appointed.

R2-billion in grants underneath investigation
SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi reported the SIU was currently investigating grants valued at about R2-billion, along with the unit was however often getting idea-offs about additional corruption.

He instructed MPs that the SIU’s investigation had been broken into a few phases: the 1st, that has been finalised, probed dodgy grants amounting to R280-million, and the 2nd, also accomplished, included R247-million. During the 3rd section, as a result of be finalised at the end of the 12 months, the SIU is investigating grants valued at almost R906-million, involving 40 NPOs and NPCs, Mothibi mentioned.

He mentioned that the SIU would use “quickly” for that Presidential Proclamation, at first granted in October 2020 to analyze corruption involving lottery grants, to generally be prolonged to include procurement via the NLC.

The SIU investigation experienced so far led to thirteen disciplinary referrals on the NLC, and administrative referrals to SARS and the Companies and Intellectual Properties Commission to blacklist people today implicated while in the looting. Complaints involving two men and women were referred towards the Authorized Apply Council as well as the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants.

The SIU had observed numerous trends under the previous NLC board and executive - many of whom are already implicated in looting - Mothibi explained to MPs.

This integrated a “pattern of collusion between NLC officials and NPOs and NPCs”, “the hijacking of NPOs and NPCs” and “common maladministration from the approval of grants,” he reported.

Slow progress via the NPA
The SIU has frozen houses, Houses, cars as well as other property really worth tens of millions which were acquired with lottery money, but MPs expressed issue at gradual development in prosecuting those involved in the looting. (The SIU is mandated only to Get better property bought with stolen point out cash and does not have prosecuting powers).

Whilst the SIU has referred fifteen issues for the NPA, so far only two folks have been brought prior to a court docket. Two Guys appeared in court docket in Kimberley not long ago in connection with misappropriated money gathered to get a challenge to fight gender-dependent violence.

In August 2022 Christopher Tshivule was sentenced to 8 a long time in prison for his section within a R1.5-million lottery grant fraud. Prices against two folks charged with him, who the SIU has referred to as “kingpins” while in the corruption that confused the NLC, ended up dropped.

Big-Normal Mmeli Makinyane, the performing divisional commissioner for priority offences, informed MPs that the Hawks were being now investigating 16 lottery corruption-associated instances. Another a person - the Kimberley subject - is just before a court docket and two are sent on the NPA for a call to prosecute. A further 5 cases are being investigated because of the SAPS detective and forensic providers, he claimed.

Explaining the reasons for your delay in prosecutions, NPA Deputy National Director Rodney de Kock mentioned Component of The key reason why was which the Hawks needed to do even further investigations if they gained dossiers with the SIU.

“In essence, the investigations undertaken through the SIU don't fulfill felony specifications for prosecutions.”

As a result, the NPA experienced to work with investigators within the DPCI (the Hawks) and SAPS to perform felony investigations and be certain that the proof fulfills criminal prosecution requirements, he stated, introducing: “Having said that, the perform from the SIU is significant and contributes drastically to this process.”

De Kock explained which the SIU’s investigation “frequently leads to a number of referrals. The referrals may perhaps ultimately cause just one docket and a person court docket scenario.”

He claimed that twelve matters, which might be “close to eighty five% comprehensive”, have been becoming jointly investigated from the Hawks as well as SIU’s Specialised Financial Operations Unit. (The majority of these cases, seven of which were being lodged in 2020, entail previous NLC Main working officer Phillemon Letwaba, who resigned beneath a cloud in 2022, and Pretoria law firm Leslie Ramulifho.)

De Kock mentioned the NPA confronted a number of “issues” in prosecuting cases. These, he claimed, integrated

the lapse of time amongst if the offences were being committed as well as the issuing of your Presidential Proclamation on one November 2020;
“unavailability of witnesses and/or documentary proof” (Before this calendar year, the SIU told the committee that important documents necessary in some prosecutions had been deleted from your NLC Laptop process or had long gone missing from Metrofile, a warehouse exactly where copies of files are archived and stored);
The point that some implicated men and women remain employed by NLC; and
A obstacle towards the legality on the Presidential Proclamation by previous NLC chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda.
“The NPA is dedicated to ensuring finalisation in these matters. To this close, a team of dedicated prosecutors has become allotted to oversee all NLC matters at present beneath investigation,” de Kock explained. “Matters are handled as a precedence. Once [the] investigations are done, the NPA could make a choice.”

What the companies say (or don’t)
GroundUp was only in a position to get comment from among the 5 providers accused because of the SIU in Parliament of producing fraudulent once-a-year money statements,TTP Consulting.

Aubrey Moeng, among TTP’s two administrators, explained within an e-mail in reaction to concerns: “Due to customer confidentiality, we want to suggest that TTP Consulting is not really willing to divulge consumers’ money private info with the public or media … without the consent of your client or even a authorized rationale.”

The company is really a “companion” of several point out entities, together with SARS and also the CIPC, In accordance with its Web-site.

Neither of The 2 directors of Dzata Accountants, who are both mentioned as inactive to the CIPC sign-up of firms, responded to emailed questions. The corporation has actually been deregistered with the CIPC for failing to post money statements given that 2021.

The only director of Mageba Ntuli Investing and Consulting Company, Patrick Zulu, died a few many years ago, In line with official information. The organization was deregistered from the CIPC for failing to submit economical statements considering the fact that 2021.

Matamela Magodi, the only director of Magodi Consultants, did not reply to issues emailed to him.

GroundUp was not able to find any listing for Tafta Consulting and Accounting Services While using the CIPC. We have been also struggling to trace any of the business’s administrators to request comment.