National Lotteries Commission: Lamola NOT linked to ‘dodgy’ probe

The National Lotteries Commission has moved to clear the air, in the wake of jaw-dropping allegations that have recently surfaced, involving Justice Minister Ronald Lamola.

This was in relation to three forensic reports compiled by Lamola’s law firm, which found there was no evidence of corruption at the National Lotteries Commission, but here’s the problem: the probe was flawed as it was supported by forged documents and a key witness was never interviewed.

“It must be stated that the Minister did not interact with the assignments of the NLC, even during his tenure as director of the said law firm,” the NLC said in a lengthy statement.

Let’s bring you up to speed: According to GroundUp, a hijacked non-profit company called Denzhe Primary Care received R27.5 million to build a drug rehabilitation centre near Pretoria. Work on the centre was never completed and a large chunk of the funds received (at least R20 million) were unaccounted for.

National Lotteries Commission ‘clears the air’

As if that wasn’t enough, the brother of the National Lotteries Commission’s Chief Operating Officer, Phillemon Letwaba, ran the construction company that received the contract to build the centre. Ndobela Lamola Inc (NL Inc) was then roped in to probe any wrongdoing involved in the procurement of the funds.

The National Lotteries Commission further went on to clarify that the probe Ronald Lamola’s law firm conducted was not a forensic one, but a normal investigation aimed at fact finding on issues raised and alleged around the Denzhe project.

There’s more: Denzhe Primary Care’s original founder Takalani Tshikalange was apparently unaware that the organisation had been hijacked – until she received SMS notifications of large sums of money going in and out of its account.

Most of the documents contain Tshikalange’s signature, but she claims it was forged. The documents include a Denzhe board resolution appointing controversial lawyer Lesley Ramulifho as chairperson, replacing Tshikalange, after the organisation was hijacked. As per the resolution, Tshikalange “gave away” signing rights on Denzhe’s bank account to Ramulifho and three other people. Another resolution containing Tshikalange’s signature, is one in which she is “reappointed” chairperson. She has told GroundUp that the signatures on the several documents were all forged.