Hawks probe R2.2m ANC book grant

Johannesburg -

An ANC centenary book is at the centre of a Hawks investigation after allegations that it was funded by a R2.2 million grant fraudulently acquired from the national lottery.

The investigation is based on allegedly fraudulent documents submitted by the Basadi Empowerment Trust, which was granted the money on behalf of the Lefatshe La Rona non-governmental organisation (NGO) for the production of the book.

The saga has raised more questions about the grant application processes of the national lottery, following previous reports by The Sunday Independent on fraud and corruption allegations surrounding the process.

The Sunday Independent has seen confidential affidavits which allege that Basadi Empowerment Trust, a registered NGO, falsified its financials in order to receive the grant.

The production of the book, titled ANC @100: The Official Portrait, was endorsed by the ruling party’s centenary committee and was supposed to be launched at its centenary celebrations in Mangaung last year.

The 850-page publication was supposed to detail the 100-year history of the ANC, with a total of 15 000 copies printed, 5 000 of which were to be handed to the party for the centenary celebrations, while the rest were to be distributed to libraries around the country at no charge.

Although this did not materialise, the last tranche of the payments to the Basadi Empowerment Trust for the production of the book, an amount of R1.2m, was paid in January, nearly a year after it was supposed to have been launched.

ANC spokesman Keith Khoza said if any criminality was involved, the law would be allowed to take its course.

“The centenary was a national event and the ANC accredited as many people as possible to be involved,” Khoza said.

“To the extent that there was any criminality, we will not interfere with the investigations,” Khoza added.

According to an affidavit signed by National Lotteries Board chief executive Charlotte Mampane, which The Sunday Independent has seen, the organisation initially requested more than R4m when it applied but was only awarded R2.2m.

The funding was awarded on the premise that the organisation was fully compliant with requirements and that all documents submitted were authentic.

Organisations which apply for funding at the national lottery, but which do not have financials for two previous years, are required to partner with organisations which have previously received funding.

However, Mampane says in her affidavit: “We have received an affidavit from the auditor pertaining to the financials of Basadi submitted with the grant application.

“In the affidavit, the auditor distances himself from the financials of Basadi, which consequently informs that Basadi falsified their financials for the purposes of procuring the grant in question.”

According to documents, the project was to be researched and authored by Professor Paulus Zulu of the University of Kwazulu-Natal. Zulu said they were continuing with the book and he was not aware of anything untoward regarding the project.

Lefatshe La Rona director Themba Ximba this week distanced his organisation from alleged falsification of documents.

Ximba claimed that everything they had submitted was above board, and instead blamed the saga on the National Lotteries Board (NLB) and Basadi Empowerment.

According to Ximba, they were only associated with Basadi after being referred to them by the national lottery as they would not qualify for the grant if they applied by themselves.

“We did not know who Basadi was – we were referred to them by the NLB. As far as the money we received is concerned, it was used for the project we applied for and the book is expected to be finalised by early next year,” Ximba said.

“We are even sourcing more funding from other donors because the money was not enough.”

He added that the project, which he stressed was their own and not an ANC initiative, was being jeopardised by the negative publicity from reports on allegations of fraud concerning the national lottery and Basadi.

He said he was referred to businessman and former ANC Rivonia branch chairman Mutumwa Mawere for assistance with the application.

Mawere is the subject of a separate investigation related to the African Heritage Society, but yesterday distanced himself from Basadi and the project, saying he was only a witness to the signing of the contract and was not a trustee nor an officer at the trust.

Mawere questioned the nature of the probe, asking why Basadi was being investigated when they had given the money to Lefatshe, the main beneficiaries of the grant.

“I would not know if the financials were falsified because I was not involved in the project beyond being a witness to the signing of the agreement. Why is there no investigation into whether the funds were used for what they were meant for? The grant funded a project, not the financials,” said Mawere.

He insisted the national lottery should have done due diligence and satisfied itself that the application was above board.

“Are they saying they never verified anything that was submitted to them during the application process?”

NLB spokesman Sershan Naidoo said the national lottery was not allowed to refer organisations to assisting NGOs, adding that if Lefatshe La Rona was referred to Basadi by someone at the NLB, they should say who it was so they could follow up.

“Organisations form their own partnerships and apply for funding with all the required documents. We are not involved in forming those partnerships,” Naidoo said.

Naidoo added that the national lottery’s internal investigation had been completed and would be studied by its board this coming week.

“The report will be handed over to Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies and until that happens, we will not be commenting on this matter,” he said.

Duduzile Simelane, the listed contact person for Basadi, said she left the organisation “a long time ago” and was not aware of the centenary book project.

The Sunday Independent