The Specific Investigating Device has discovered five accounting corporations that assisted loot Lottery resources. Graphic: Lisa Nelson

The Particular Investigating Device has discovered five accounting and auditing firms that aided non-profit firms loot Lottery money intended for “very good results in”.
The accounting firms compiled fraudulent monetary statements used by these organizations to make an application for Lottery funding, the SIU instructed Parliament.
Performing chief national investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe stated the SIU would take motion to own these corporations blacklisted.
A 4-calendar year probe from the lottovip Specific Investigating Device (SIU) has exposed 5 accounting and auditing companies that assisted dodgy non-income businesses loot many an incredible number of rands intended for “superior causes” in the Lottery.

These companies have been described through the SIU as “Qualified enablers,” who “compiled fraudulent economic statements” which were employed by the businesses to submit an application for Lottery funding.

The 5 providers had been named in Parliament by the SIU’s performing chief nationwide investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe. These are TTP Consulting, Dzata Accountants, Magodi Consulting, Mageba Ntuli Consulting and Tafta Consulting and Accounting Services.

Fraudulent financials made by these five accounting companies served practically forty organizations get their arms on lottery funding, according to the SIU presentation.

Depending on a Resource made up of info with all lottery grants considering the fact that 2002, these organizations got about R314-million in funding.

“These NPCs were funded with the Nationwide Lotteries Fee (NLC) though the cash weren't made use of for his or her supposed objective,” Xesibe told Parliament’s Trade, Market and Level of competition Portfolio Committee last 7 days.

The SIU, the Hawks plus the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) were being in Parliament to report to the committee on progress in bringing men and women and organisations involved with looting the lottery to reserve.

Xesibe told GroundUp which the SIU meant to lodge complaints against the accounting firms concerned and was checking if these firms had been registered and, If that's so, with which professional bodies.

“We want these organizations to generally be blacklisted,” she informed GroundUp.

To qualify for Lottery funding, an organisation was necessary to make two years of once-a-year money statements, Xesibe spelled out in Parliament.

Even so, as an ongoing 6-yr investigation into lottery corruption by GroundUp has uncovered, hijacked non-profit organisations (NPOs) or new shelf non-income businesses (NPCs) without having monetary monitor data were being utilized to submit an application for funding.

In some circumstances, Just about equivalent economical statements were created for unrelated organisations, usually with only the names of the organisations improved, GroundUp’s investigation located.

Documents submitted by legitimate NPCs for unsuccessful grant programs had been frequently utilized by new or hijacked NPCs and NPOs to apply for funding. The main points and documents of your unsuccessful applicants have been supplied by senior Lottery officials towards the dodgy applicants.

With cursory or - normally - no verification, these dodgy applicants had been awarded countless rands in grants. In some cases more tranches of resources had been paid out out without Significantly checking over the development of initiatives.

The overwhelming majority of those grants were being made through proactive funding, which was at the center of your looting of the lottery. Proactive funding authorized the Minister of Trade, Marketplace and Competition, or maybe the NLC along side its board, to recognize leads to to fund without initially requiring an application. This was stopped every time a new NLC board was appointed.

R2-billion in grants below investigation
SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi explained the SIU was presently investigating grants valued at in excess of R2-billion, as well as device was still routinely getting tip-offs about a lot more corruption.

He advised MPs that the SIU’s investigation had been damaged into 3 phases: the 1st, that has been finalised, probed dodgy grants amounting to R280-million, and the next, also accomplished, involved R247-million. In the 3rd stage, as a result of be finalised at the conclusion of the 12 months, the SIU is investigating grants valued at Just about R906-million, involving 40 NPOs and NPCs, Mothibi said.

He claimed that the SIU would utilize “shortly” for your Presidential Proclamation, at first granted in October 2020 to analyze corruption involving lottery grants, for being prolonged to incorporate procurement from the NLC.

The SIU investigation had thus far triggered 13 disciplinary referrals towards the NLC, and administrative referrals to SARS and the Companies and Intellectual Qualities Commission to blacklist men and women implicated from the looting. Issues involving two people today were referred to your Authorized Apply Council along with the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants.

The SIU had noticed many developments underneath the past NLC board and executive - most of whom are implicated in looting - Mothibi advised MPs.

This integrated a “pattern of collusion amongst NLC officers and NPOs and NPCs”, “the hijacking of NPOs and NPCs” and “general maladministration during the acceptance of grants,” he stated.

Slow progress through the NPA
The SIU has frozen properties, Qualities, vehicles together with other belongings worthy of tens of thousands and thousands that were acquired with lottery cash, but MPs expressed concern at gradual development in prosecuting Those people involved with the looting. (The SIU is mandated only to Recuperate belongings purchased with stolen point out funds and doesn't have prosecuting powers).

While the SIU has referred 15 issues towards the NPA, to this point only two people have been brought right before a court. Two Guys appeared in court docket in Kimberley lately in connection with misappropriated funds collected to get a undertaking to battle gender-dependent violence.

In August 2022 Christopher Tshivule was sentenced to 8 many years in jail for his aspect within a R1.five-million lottery grant fraud. Costs from two men and women billed with him, who the SIU has called “kingpins” in the corruption that overwhelmed the NLC, were dropped.

Significant-Common Mmeli Makinyane, the acting divisional commissioner for precedence offences, instructed MPs the Hawks have been at the moment investigating 16 lottery corruption-related conditions. A further just one - the Kimberley make a difference - is prior to a courtroom and two are already sent into the NPA for a decision to prosecute. An extra five situations are increasingly being investigated with the SAPS detective and forensic providers, he said.

Detailing The explanations with the delay in prosecutions, NPA Deputy Nationwide Director Rodney de Kock explained Portion of The main reason was the Hawks had to do even more investigations once they gained dossiers within the SIU.

“In essence, the investigations carried out because of the SIU will not fulfill legal specifications for prosecutions.”

Consequently, the NPA experienced to work with investigators inside the DPCI (the Hawks) and SAPS to perform legal investigations and make certain that the evidence fulfills criminal prosecution benchmarks, he mentioned, introducing: “That said, the operate of your SIU is vital and contributes greatly to this process.”

De Kock claimed which the SIU’s investigation “typically ends in various referrals. The referrals might in the end cause just one docket and a person court docket scenario.”

He mentioned that 12 matters, which are “roughly eighty five% finish”, ended up remaining jointly investigated by the Hawks along with the SIU’s Specialised Economic Functions Unit. (Most of these conditions, seven of which were being lodged in 2020, involve previous NLC Main working officer Phillemon Letwaba, who resigned underneath a cloud in 2022, and Pretoria lawyer Leslie Ramulifho.)

De Kock mentioned the NPA confronted a number of “difficulties” in prosecuting scenarios. These, he stated, bundled

the lapse of your time in between once the offences ended up fully commited and also the issuing in the Presidential Proclamation on 1 November 2020;
“unavailability of witnesses and/or documentary evidence” (Earlier this year, the SIU informed the committee that important documents needed in certain prosecutions had been deleted in the NLC computer procedure or had long gone missing from Metrofile, a warehouse where copies of paperwork are archived and saved);
The truth that some implicated individuals are still utilized 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 end, a crew of focused prosecutors is allotted to supervise all NLC issues at present underneath investigation,” de Kock reported. “Issues are managed as a precedence. As soon as [the] investigations are accomplished, the NPA is likely to make a choice.”

What the companies say (or don’t)
GroundUp was only capable to get comment from among the 5 corporations accused with the SIU in Parliament of producing fraudulent yearly economic statements,TTP Consulting.

Aubrey Moeng, one of TTP’s two directors, reported in an e mail in response to inquiries: “As a consequence of consumer confidentiality, we prefer to recommend that TTP Consulting just isn't ready to disclose shoppers’ monetary confidential data with the general public or media … with no consent with the customer or maybe a lawful rationale.”

The corporation is usually a “partner” of several point out entities, which include SARS plus the CIPC, In line with its Internet site.

Neither of the two administrators of Dzata Accountants, who're each listed as inactive over the CIPC register of providers, responded to emailed queries. The corporation has become deregistered via the CIPC for failing to post monetary statements considering the fact that 2021.

The sole director of Mageba Ntuli Trading and Consulting Provider, Patrick Zulu, died 3 decades back, according to Formal data. The corporate was deregistered because of the CIPC for failing to submit fiscal statements due to the fact 2021.

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

GroundUp was unable to come across any listing for Tafta Consulting and Accounting Solutions with the CIPC. We ended up also unable to trace any of the corporate’s administrators to ask for comment.