- A foundation belonging to former Hawks spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi has received millions of rands from the lottery to build sports facilities in Limpopo province. The former head of risk at Lottery Marubini Ramatosekisa is also involved.
- The facility is in a state of disrepair as Mulaudzi allegedly used the funds to buy expensive cars and pay for his children's school fees.
- The Hawks will investigate the matter and submit documents to the Prosecutor General's Office to decide whether charges are ready.
- For more financial news, visit the News24 Business front page.
The Hawks have completed an investigation into a multi-million rand grant made by the National Lottery Commission (NLC) to a foundation controlled by a former police officer. The relevant documents and findings were handed over to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
The investigation focused on former Hawks spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi, his wife Ruzani, and a “consultant” allegedly involved in laundering money diverted from the grant. The Hawks also investigated the role played by former NLC risk chief Malvini Ramatsekisa, who was implicated in several other fraud and corruption cases involving millions of dollars in dodgy subsidies.
A person familiar with the investigation told GroundUp that the investigation has been flagged as a priority by both the Hawks and the National Police Service.
The R3 million grant went to the Hungani Mulaudzi Foundation, of which the Mulaudzis are directors. The project aimed to develop sports facilities including a soccer pitch, netball court, changing rooms and wells in Mkondeni village in Vhembe District, Limpopo Province.
In 2020, the Foundation also received a R100 000 COVID-19 grant.
Mulaudzi is said to have used lottery funds to buy two luxury cars and pay for his children's school fees. Approximately R2 million was allegedly paid to an unidentified consultant to assist in the money laundering. The consultants “took their cut” and paid Mulaudzi a large sum of money, the people said.
Mulaudzi told the Limpopo Mirror in 2020 that the R3 million lottery grant was not enough.
Mulaudzi said:
This is a rural area and implementing a project in such an area is quite expensive. So far, it appears that we have underestimated the cost of the project. Because we are now lining our own pockets to complete the project. That amount could be between R300,000 and he R500,000.
The NPA Special Commercial Crimes Unit will now have to decide whether it is prepared to prosecute the matter. The complaint was lodged directly with Hawks boss Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya last year by private investigator Paul O'Sullivan, who has long been at odds with Mr Mulaudzi.
When GroundUp visited Mkondeni two weeks ago, it found sports facilities destroyed and in a state of disrepair. Equipment paid for with lottery funds, including pumps and several large water tanks, is missing. Some of the missing equipment is listed in a July 2021 report commissioned by the NLC.
The soccer field is overgrown with grass and cows are grazing. Goal posts were overturned and netball hoops uprooted. The surface of the court is cracked and weeds grow around the concrete edges. Doors and windows in changing rooms and warehouses are missing. The toilets and changing rooms were full of trash, and there was a strange smell coming from the toilets.
Mulaudzi immediately resigned in late 2020 following a backlash when details of the lottery subsidy and claims that local ANC branches benefited from it became known.
“Considering the legal implications and in order to maintain the integrity of the ongoing legal process, I must respectfully refrain from commenting,” Mulaudzi said in response to questions via WhatsApp.
“We are committed to responding appropriately with evidence in court and ensuring a comprehensive and lawful resolution,” he said.
“It is heartening to know that the wheels of justice are moving to bring closure to this long problem,” he said.
Hawks national spokesperson Brigadier Thandi Mbambo confirmed the document had been submitted to the Crown Prosecution Service, which will decide whether charges are ready.
Gauteng Police Service spokesperson Rumuka Mahanjana confirmed the Hawks' document had been submitted to the police force and was “still under consideration”.
Price list
Ramatsekisa, who like Mulaudzi is from Mkondeni, resigned at the end of last year after being suspended before facing an internal disciplinary investigation into a number of serious charges. These included enabling “the commission of corrupt or fraudulent acts against the NLC”, gross misconduct and dereliction of duty.
He was originally indicted in December 2022, with additional charges added in July 2023. Following his resignation in December 2023, the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) successfully applied to the Special Tribunal for an order to freeze his pension of R1.7 million. tried to withdraw it.
SIU spokesperson Kaiser Kgonyaga wrote that Ramatsekisa's pension funds “remain withheld pending the final determination of the application against him by the SIU.”
“The SIU investigation into the NLC matter found that Mr. Ramatsekisa was a key figure and willing facilitator of an elaborate scheme to defraud the commission through aggressive funding,” he said.
“The SIU intends to bring a civil action against Mr. Ramatsekisa to recover the damages suffered by NLC as a result of his actions.”
Mr. Ramatsekisa's NLC complaint is based primarily on the findings of the SIU, alleging fraud and corruption in connection with several grants to nonprofit organizations. However, his pension freeze order was based solely on a R4 million grant to a dormant not-for-profit shelf company.
Ramatsekisa did not respond to questions sent to his WhatsApp number. A man who answered the phone number listed on the Facebook page of the resort, The Lamb's Palace Resort, said he would ask Ramatsekisa to call him back. He never did.
serious charges
The complaint against Ramatsekisa describes how in February 2020, the NLC commissioned a forensic investigation into proactive financing, a central mechanism in the lottery looting. No action was taken on this report (along with several others commissioned by the NLC). NLC) was conducted by SkX Protiviti.
“The SkX report reveals adverse facts regarding your involvement in the management of a proactive funding model,” the first complaint reads. “Additionally, NLC has independently identified instances in which you have violated the provisions of NLC’s policies and procedures, as well as your duties and functions as an enterprise risk management specialist and grant project manager.”
Charges against Ramatseksa include:
- The failure to develop and implement standard operating procedures for actively funded projects, and the “fraud” associated with this failure.
- Proactive project management to build ablution facilities in rural schools in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo.
- Management of an actively funded project to build a nursing home in Kuruman (unfinished).
- Management of an actively funded project (still unfinished) to build a retirement home in Malapyane Village, Mpumalanga.
- Organizing an actively funded soccer tournament for older women in Bafalaboluwa, Limpopo. A non-profit organization whose director was the wife of NLC's former chief operating officer, Philemon Letwaba, was involved.
- Management of an actively funded project (unfinished) to build a drug rehabilitation center in Soshanguve, near Pretoria.
- Management of actively funded projects to study the Khoisan language (see Zibsicraft section).and
- NLC’s management of Covid funds for nonprofit organizations.
Regarding the last charge, the indictment states: “On August 5, 2020, you directed the State Administrator and his team not to upload reports regarding the COVID-19 Relief Program to the organization's electronic systems. …You were not authorized to issue such a report.” The effect of this directive…was to prevent oversight of the use of public funds in connection with this program. ”
From rags to riches
The son of a retired school teacher and a housewife, Ramatsekisa grew up in Mkondeni and now lives in Pretoria. He sought promotion within the organization and within a few years of joining NLC in a relatively junior position in 2013, he was promoted to his Manager of Grant Projects, a key position in the funding chain. did. Three years later, he became chief risk officer, leading a division responsible for fraud investigation and prevention. By the time of his resignation at the end of 2023, Mr Ramatsekisa's annual salary was R1.7 million.
He built a magnificent three-storey mansion in Mkondeni, the largest house in the village, which remains vacant for long periods when he is not living there. He is also developing his three-pool leisure resort just outside the nearby village of Sereni and, according to locals, he is employed in local construction work. , backhoe). In addition to the Mkondeni mansion, Mr Ramatsekisa and his wife own properties in Tshwane, Ekurhuleni and Halfway House in Gauteng.
Both his village property and leisure resort are located within tribal lands allocated by local chiefs. GroundUp could not find any bonds registered with the Deeds Office for any of these properties, which is common on tribal lands where people typically build with their own funds.