The Exclusive Investigating Unit has identified five accounting companies that helped loot Lottery funds. Graphic: Lisa Nelson

The Unique Investigating Unit has identified 5 accounting and auditing companies that helped non-financial gain firms loot Lottery revenue intended for “great brings about”.
The accounting companies compiled fraudulent money statements utilized by these corporations to make an application for Lottery funding, the SIU instructed Parliament.
Acting Main countrywide investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe explained the SIU would just take action to obtain these companies blacklisted.
A four-12 months probe with the สลาก กิน Exclusive Investigating Unit (SIU) has exposed 5 accounting and auditing corporations that aided dodgy non-income organizations loot numerous numerous rands meant for “superior will cause” from your Lottery.

These corporations have been explained with the SIU as “professional enablers,” who “compiled fraudulent money statements” that were used by the companies to submit an application for Lottery funding.

The 5 organizations ended up named in Parliament by the SIU’s acting chief national investigations officer Zodwa Xesibe. They can be TTP Consulting, Dzata Accountants, Magodi Consulting, Mageba Ntuli Consulting and Tafta Consulting and Accounting Products and services.

Fraudulent financials made by these 5 accounting companies assisted practically 40 businesses get their hands on lottery funding, according to the SIU presentation.

Based on a Software that contains knowledge with all lottery grants considering that 2002, these organizations got about R314-million in funding.

“These NPCs have been funded by the Nationwide Lotteries Fee (NLC) even so the resources were not applied for his or her intended reason,” Xesibe informed Parliament’s Trade, Sector and Competitors Portfolio Committee previous 7 days.

The SIU, the Hawks as well as Countrywide Prosecuting Authority (NPA) were in Parliament to report to the committee on progress in bringing individuals and organisations involved in looting the lottery to guide.

Xesibe informed GroundUp that the SIU meant to lodge issues in opposition to the accounting firms involved and was examining if these companies were registered and, if so, with which Experienced bodies.

“We would like these businesses to be blacklisted,” she instructed GroundUp.

To qualify for Lottery funding, an organisation was required to develop two a long time of once-a-year monetary statements, Xesibe spelled out in Parliament.

Nonetheless, as an ongoing six-12 months investigation into lottery corruption by GroundUp has uncovered, hijacked non-profit organisations (NPOs) or new shelf non-gain corporations (NPCs) without any monetary observe data were utilized to apply for funding.

In a few occasions, Nearly similar economical statements were generated for unrelated organisations, frequently with just the names from the organisations modified, GroundUp’s investigation identified.

Documents submitted by genuine NPCs for unsuccessful grant purposes were being often employed by new or hijacked NPCs and NPOs to make an application for funding. The details and paperwork in the unsuccessful applicants had been supplied by senior Lottery officers on the dodgy applicants.

With cursory or - generally - no verification, these dodgy applicants ended up awarded many rands in grants. In some cases added tranches of resources had been paid out out devoid of much checking within the progress of assignments.

The vast majority of these grants were made by using proactive funding, which was at the guts with the looting on the lottery. Proactive funding permitted the Minister of Trade, Sector and Opposition, or the NLC at the side of its board, to establish triggers to fund with out first necessitating an software. This was stopped each time a new NLC board was appointed.

R2-billion in grants under investigation
SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi claimed the SIU was presently investigating grants valued at in excess of R2-billion, and also the unit was even now regularly getting suggestion-offs about extra corruption.

He informed MPs that the SIU’s investigation were damaged into 3 phases: the 1st, which has been finalised, probed dodgy grants amounting to R280-million, and the second, also done, included R247-million. While in the third period, as a result of be finalised at the conclusion of the yr, the SIU is investigating grants valued at almost R906-million, involving 40 NPOs and NPCs, Mothibi said.

He explained which the SIU would use “shortly” for your Presidential Proclamation, initially granted in Oct 2020 to analyze corruption involving lottery grants, to generally be prolonged to include procurement by the NLC.

The SIU investigation experienced to date led to 13 disciplinary referrals to the NLC, and administrative referrals to SARS and the Companies and Intellectual Homes Fee to blacklist people implicated within the looting. Grievances involving two folks had been referred for the Authorized Exercise Council and also the SA Institute of Chartered Accountants.

The SIU had noticed several traits underneath the past NLC board and government - many of whom have been implicated in looting - Mothibi explained to MPs.

This provided a “trend of collusion involving NLC officials and NPOs and NPCs”, “the hijacking of NPOs and NPCs” and “normal maladministration inside the acceptance of grants,” he reported.

Slow progress through the NPA
The SIU has frozen residences, Attributes, cars together with other belongings really worth tens of thousands and thousands which were acquired with lottery funds, but MPs expressed worry at sluggish development in prosecuting those associated with the looting. (The SIU is mandated only to Recuperate assets bought with stolen state funds and does not have prosecuting powers).

Whilst the SIU has referred fifteen issues to your NPA, thus far only two folks have been brought just before a court. Two Guys appeared in court in Kimberley not too long ago in connection with misappropriated resources collected to get a job to overcome gender-primarily based violence.

In August 2022 Christopher Tshivule was sentenced to 8 decades in prison for his section within a R1.five-million lottery grant fraud. Expenses versus two persons charged with him, who the SIU has referred to as “kingpins” during the corruption that confused the NLC, had been dropped.

Important-Common Mmeli Makinyane, the acting divisional commissioner for precedence offences, told MPs that the Hawks have been now investigating sixteen lottery corruption-linked scenarios. A different a single - the Kimberley issue - is just before a court docket and two are actually despatched to the NPA for a decision to prosecute. A further 5 scenarios are being investigated because of the SAPS detective and forensic companies, he said.

Outlining the reasons for that delay in prosecutions, NPA Deputy National Director Rodney de Kock claimed A part of The key reason why was that the Hawks needed to do further more investigations once they obtained dossiers from your SIU.

“In essence, the investigations undertaken by the SIU do not fulfill legal requirements for prosecutions.”

Therefore, the NPA experienced to work with investigators during the DPCI (the Hawks) and SAPS to carry out prison investigations and make sure that the proof fulfills criminal prosecution benchmarks, he explained, including: “Having said that, the perform from the SIU is important and contributes considerably to this process.”

De Kock explained which the SIU’s investigation “often results in a number of referrals. The referrals may in the end cause just one docket and a person court docket case.”

He explained that 12 matters, which happen to be “roughly eighty five% complete”, were currently being jointly investigated through the Hawks along with the SIU’s Specialised Economic Functions Device. (Many of these conditions, seven of which were lodged in 2020, require previous NLC chief working officer Phillemon Letwaba, who resigned underneath a cloud in 2022, and Pretoria lawyer Leslie Ramulifho.)

De Kock explained the NPA confronted several “problems” in prosecuting conditions. These, he said, incorporated

the lapse of time among once the offences had been committed as well as the issuing with the Presidential Proclamation on one November 2020;
“unavailability of witnesses and/or documentary evidence” (Earlier this calendar year, the SIU told the committee that key files desired in certain prosecutions had been deleted from your NLC Pc system or experienced gone missing from Metrofile, a warehouse exactly where copies of files are archived and stored);
The truth that some implicated individuals are still used by NLC; and
A problem into the legality with the Presidential Proclamation by previous NLC chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda.
“The NPA is committed to guaranteeing finalisation in these issues. To this end, a crew of committed prosecutors has been allocated to oversee all NLC issues currently below investigation,” de Kock stated. “Matters are taken care of as being a priority. Once [the] investigations are completed, the NPA could 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 once-a-year economic statements,TTP Consulting.

Aubrey Moeng, among TTP’s two administrators, claimed in an e mail in response to inquiries: “Because of customer confidentiality, we desire to recommend that TTP Consulting isn't willing to divulge clientele’ fiscal private facts with the general public or media … without the consent on the consumer or possibly a legal purpose.”

The organization is really a “companion” of several condition entities, which includes SARS and also the CIPC, according to its Web page.

Neither of the two directors of Dzata Accountants, who will be the two mentioned as inactive within the CIPC sign up of businesses, responded to emailed inquiries. The corporation is deregistered because of the CIPC for failing to post economical statements because 2021.

The only director of Mageba Ntuli Trading and Consulting Support, Patrick Zulu, died 3 a long time ago, In accordance with official documents. The corporation was deregistered because of the CIPC for failing to submit monetary statements because 2021.

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

GroundUp was unable to come across any listing for Tafta Consulting and Accounting Companies Using the CIPC. We ended up also unable to trace any of the business’s administrators to request comment.