The Special Investigating Device has recognized five accounting companies that aided loot Lottery cash. Graphic: Lisa Nelson

The Distinctive Investigating Device has identified 5 accounting and auditing corporations that helped non-earnings providers loot Lottery cash intended for “good triggers”.
The accounting firms compiled fraudulent economic statements utilized by these businesses to submit an application for Lottery funding, the SIU instructed Parliament.
Acting chief countrywide investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe claimed the SIU would choose action to have these corporations blacklisted.
A 4-yr probe from the หวย ลาว ย้อน หลัง Special Investigating Device (SIU) has uncovered five accounting and auditing companies that served dodgy non-financial gain providers loot many hundreds of millions of rands intended for “very good brings about” within the Lottery.

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

The five organizations had been named in Parliament from the SIU’s performing Main nationwide investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe. They can be TTP Consulting, Dzata Accountants, Magodi Consulting, Mageba Ntuli Consulting and Tafta Consulting and Accounting Expert services.

Fraudulent financials made by these five accounting firms helped practically forty firms get their hands on lottery funding, in accordance with the SIU presentation.

Based upon a tool made up of knowledge with all lottery grants because 2002, these providers acquired more than R314-million in funding.

“These NPCs have been funded because of the Nationwide Lotteries Fee (NLC) though the resources were not utilised for his or her meant purpose,” Xesibe advised Parliament’s Trade, Sector and Competition Portfolio Committee very last week.

The SIU, the Hawks as well as Nationwide Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had been in Parliament to report back to the committee on development in bringing persons and organisations associated with looting the lottery to reserve.

Xesibe told GroundUp which the SIU intended to lodge issues versus the accounting companies associated and was checking if these corporations have been registered and, if so, with which Experienced bodies.

“We wish these organizations to become blacklisted,” she advised GroundUp.

To qualify for Lottery funding, an organisation was needed to make two years of annual monetary statements, Xesibe spelled out in Parliament.

Nevertheless, as an ongoing six-12 months investigation into lottery corruption by GroundUp has exposed, hijacked non-financial gain organisations (NPOs) or new shelf non-gain organizations (NPCs) with no monetary monitor information had been used to submit an application for funding.

In a few scenarios, Virtually similar money statements were developed for unrelated organisations, normally with just the names on the organisations transformed, GroundUp’s investigation located.

Paperwork submitted by authentic NPCs for unsuccessful grant purposes were usually utilized by new or hijacked NPCs and NPOs to apply for funding. The details and files in the unsuccessful applicants ended up supplied by senior Lottery officers on the dodgy applicants.

With cursory or - typically - no verification, these dodgy applicants were awarded millions of rands in grants. In some cases more tranches of money were being paid out out without the need of much checking on the development of tasks.

The overwhelming majority of those grants have been designed through proactive funding, which was at the heart of the looting with the lottery. Proactive funding authorized the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competitors, or even the NLC at the side of its board, to recognize will cause to fund with out very first necessitating an application. This was stopped whenever a new NLC board was appointed.

R2-billion in grants less than investigation
SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi mentioned the SIU was at this time investigating grants valued at around R2-billion, as well as unit was however on a regular basis receiving suggestion-offs about a lot more corruption.

He instructed MPs that the SIU’s investigation had been broken into three phases: the very first, which has been finalised, probed dodgy grants amounting to R280-million, and the 2nd, also finished, involved R247-million. Inside the 3rd phase, due to be finalised at the end of the year, the SIU is investigating grants valued at Nearly R906-million, involving 40 NPOs and NPCs, Mothibi said.

He said which the SIU would implement “quickly” for your Presidential Proclamation, at first granted in October 2020 to analyze corruption involving lottery grants, to get prolonged to include procurement because of the NLC.

The SIU investigation experienced up to now brought about thirteen disciplinary referrals towards the NLC, and administrative referrals to SARS and the businesses and Mental Houses Fee to blacklist people implicated from the looting. Complaints involving two individuals had been referred towards the Legal Observe Council and also the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants.

The SIU experienced noticed various tendencies beneath the earlier NLC board and executive - many of whom happen to be implicated in looting - Mothibi told MPs.

This bundled a “pattern of collusion between NLC officials and NPOs and NPCs”, “the hijacking of NPOs and NPCs” and “general maladministration while in the acceptance of grants,” he mentioned.

Sluggish development from the NPA
The SIU has frozen properties, properties, automobiles and also other belongings well worth tens of tens of millions that were bought with lottery money, but MPs expressed worry at gradual development in prosecuting These involved with the looting. (The SIU is mandated only to Get well property acquired with stolen point out cash and doesn't have prosecuting powers).

When the SIU has referred 15 matters towards the NPA, up to now only two people have been introduced right before a court docket. Two Adult men appeared in courtroom in Kimberley not too long ago in reference to misappropriated resources collected for just a task to fight gender-based mostly violence.

In August 2022 Christopher Tshivule was sentenced to 8 yrs in prison for his section in the R1.five-million lottery grant fraud. Fees against two people today charged with him, who the SIU has referred to as “kingpins” during the corruption that overwhelmed the NLC, ended up dropped.

Major-Basic Mmeli Makinyane, the acting divisional commissioner for priority offences, told MPs that the Hawks had been presently investigating sixteen lottery corruption-related cases. An additional 1 - the Kimberley make a difference - is prior to a court docket and two are sent for the NPA for a decision to prosecute. An extra five conditions are now being investigated through the SAPS detective and forensic providers, he reported.

Detailing the reasons to the hold off in prosecutions, NPA Deputy National Director Rodney de Kock claimed Portion of The key reason why was that the Hawks had to do even more investigations when they obtained dossiers within the SIU.

“In essence, the investigations undertaken through the SIU will not fulfill felony benchmarks for prosecutions.”

Therefore, the NPA experienced to operate with investigators from the DPCI (the Hawks) and SAPS to carry out legal investigations and make certain that the evidence satisfies felony prosecution expectations, he explained, adding: “Having said that, the perform of the SIU is important and contributes considerably to this method.”

De Kock mentioned which the SIU’s investigation “frequently ends in various referrals. The referrals might in the long run bring about a single docket and a single courtroom situation.”

He claimed that 12 issues, which are “somewhere around eighty five% finish”, were being jointly investigated from the Hawks as well as the SIU’s Specialised Financial Operations Device. (A large number of conditions, seven of which were being lodged in 2020, contain former NLC Main working officer Phillemon Letwaba, who resigned below a cloud in 2022, and Pretoria law firm Leslie Ramulifho.)

De Kock explained the NPA faced various “problems” in prosecuting cases. These, he explained, bundled

the lapse of time involving when the offences have been committed plus the issuing in the Presidential Proclamation on one November 2020;
“unavailability of witnesses and/or documentary proof” (Before this calendar year, the SIU told the committee that crucial documents required in some prosecutions had been deleted from your NLC Computer system process or had long gone missing from Metrofile, a warehouse where copies of files are archived and stored);
the fact that some implicated people today remain used by NLC; and
A challenge to the legality with the Presidential Proclamation by former NLC chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda.
“The NPA is devoted to ensuring finalisation in these matters. To this close, a staff of dedicated prosecutors has actually been allotted to oversee all NLC matters currently beneath investigation,” de Kock reported. “Matters are managed as a precedence. Once [the] investigations are finished, the NPA can make a choice.”

What the businesses say (or don’t)
GroundUp was only in a position to get remark 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 administrators, stated within an email in response to questions: “As a consequence of client confidentiality, we prefer to advise that TTP Consulting is not really prepared to divulge shoppers’ economic private info with the public or media … with no consent of the client or possibly a legal purpose.”

The corporation is a “companion” of many state entities, such as SARS and the CIPC, Based on its Web site.

Neither of The 2 directors of Dzata Accountants, who are both of those shown as inactive around the CIPC sign-up of businesses, responded to emailed questions. The corporation has actually been deregistered through the CIPC for failing to submit economical statements given that 2021.

The only real director of Mageba Ntuli Investing and Consulting Support, Patrick Zulu, died 3 yrs back, Based on official records. The organization was deregistered with the CIPC for failing to post financial statements considering the fact that 2021.

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

GroundUp was unable to discover any listing for Tafta Consulting and Accounting Providers Using the CIPC. We were being also not able to trace any of the company’s directors to request remark.