WATCH | How R70k NLC grant turned into R9m to ‘build’ non-existent stadium

Marubini Ramatsekisa, the disgraced National Lotteries Commission (NLC) manager, has been identified as the person who insisted to award a Soweto foundation R9m to build a sports facility that never existed.

Sowetan on Wednesday revealed how Jeremane Petrus Sedibe allegedly milked NLC funding under the guise of wanting to build a state-of-the-art sports facility at Protea Glen Ext 3, Soweto, in 2021.

Instead, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) alleges that Sedibe misused the money and shared it with associates who include NLC employees who helped him qualify for the R9m funding.

The Special Tribunal recently ruled that all those involved in the elaborate scam should repay the money.

The SIU has pointed to Ramatsekisa, the former NLC’s grant funding projects manager, as the one who insisted on assisting Sedibe’s Motheo Sports and Entertainment Foundation being funded.

“The SIU investigation has found that Motheo’s original application for more than R61.6m was unsuccessful after the NLC approved only R70,000, which the non-profit organisation (NPO) declined.

“Despite this, on 14 April 2021, five months later, Ramatsekisa recommended that Motheo receive R9m through the NLC’s proactive funding process. The recommendation was approved by former acting chief operations officer (COO) Mr Nkhesho Njoni,” said SIU spokesperson Selby Makgotho on Wednesday.

Njoni approved the grant the same day of the recommendation. The NLC has since fired Ramatsekisa for allegedly being involved in similar schemes. His pension is withheld by the state.

On May 24 2021, Tebogo Joseph Mohlala, the director of Motheo, and Nonhlanhla Matshazi, co-director of Londilox NPC, signed a grant agreement with the NLC, for which payments were to be made in three tranches.

The investigation found that after the first R3m payment on June 9 2021:

• R950,000 was transferred to PSKO (Pty) Ltd, a company owned by Sedibe;
• R500,000 was transferred to Londilox NPC, co-directed by Matshazi;
• R400,000 was paid to Synercon (Pty) Ltd;
• Between June and August 2021, there were teller cash withdrawals totalling R750,000; ATM withdrawals totalling R282,850; and purchases, bank charges and other transfers totalling R117,150.

The SIU said a progress report prepared by Ziphozinhle Khoza of SRSQS Quantity Surveyors, and approved by her manager Marito Mabunda, allegedly falsely portrayed the progress of construction and how the money had been spent. In actual fact, not even a single brick had been laid on the ground which is now being used as an illegal rubbish dumping site.

Based on that report, a second payment of R3m was approved by former NLC employee Sanele Dlamini.

“However, the SIU’s investigation found that the sports complex had never been built and that the grant money had been diverted. The third and final R3m payment was therefore never released because the NLC could not justify it,” said Makgatho.

The Special Tribunal declared the grant agreement unlawful and invalid and ordered Motheo, Sedibe, Ramatsekisa, Njoni, Mohlala, Dlamini, Matshazi, Moadi, PSKO and 2MC to jointly and severally repay R6m.

The tribunal also ordered Londilox NPC and Matshazi to repay R500,000, Synercon R400,000, PSKO R950,000, 2MC R382,205, while Mohlala, Sedibe and Matshazi must repay R1,644,795, representing money withdrawn or spent directly from Motheo’s bank account.

The tribunal also upheld an earlier preservation order preventing Dlamini from accessing his pension fund until the SIU recovers the misused funds in full. The SIU said it would refer evidence of alleged criminal conduct uncovered during its investigation to the National Prosecuting Authority for possible further action.

Sowetan