Lottery boss still raking it in while on suspension

Disgraced chief operating officer (COO) of the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) Philemon Letwaba is in his 11th month on special leave, apparently earning R165 000 a month while being probed for allegedly swindling the commission out of millions.

Letwaba agreed to go on special leave in March last year, after he was named in a slew of allegations involving several dodgy projects funded by the NLC, many of which were never completed.

NLC spokesperson Ndivhuho Mafela declined to comment when asked whether an acting COO had been appointed and for details surrounding Letwaba’s continued suspension.

“Due to the fact that these investigations have not been completed, the NLC is not going to be making any further comment so that there is space for these investigations to take course without any hindrance,” he said.

In October, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a proclamation authorising the Special Investigating Unit to investigate corruption allegations in the NLC. The proclamation followed the establishment by the

Hawks of a task team to investigate the institution. This probe was launched in September, after Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel handed over a dossier of evidence gathered by forensic investigators he appointed.

Allegations contained in the dossier involved a dodgy R27.5 million lottery grant. A presentation made to parliament regarding the allegations showed how Zibsimanzi, a nongovernmental organisation of which Letwaba’s second wife, Rebotile Malamane, is a director, received R4.8 million for a project. During that presentation, department of trade and industry director-general Lionel October named four projects – Denzhe Primary Care, Zibsimanzi, Life for Impact in the 21st Century and I am Made for God’s Glory.

All of these projects were linked to Letwaba and lawyer Lesley Ramulifho.

The latter allegedly helped Denzhe Primary Care to access grants amounting to R27.5 million. The funds were meant to develop a drug rehabilitation centre near Pretoria, one of several projects mentioned which have yet to see the light of day.

Letwaba and Ramulifho were at the centre of shocking exposes by GroundUp, detailing an alleged multimillion-rand NGO conduit racket that was used to swindle the NLC out of funds meant to help impoverished communities.

According to GroundUp, Malamane’s Zibsimanzi is a shell company ( https://ptycompanyregistration.za/get-a-shelf-company/), which is registered with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission, but has never been used to trade.

The NLC won’t be making any further comment