Former National Lotteries Commission (NLC) official, Sanele Dlamini, has been interdicted from cashing in on his pension, pending the outcome of the Special Investigating Unit’s (SIU) investigation into allegations that he improperly authorised the payment of R3 million towards a project which never materialised.

The SIU turned to the Special Tribunal to freeze Dlamini’s retirement fund, which is due to be paid to him.

Dlamini is a former senior manager of the grant operations of the NLC. The SIU is litigating on behalf of the commission to recover losses that it suffered as a result of irregular and unlawful practices.

The SIU said it believes that Dlamini may be “a man of straw”, and if its investigations reveal any wrongdoing on his part, they will at least be able to recover the NLC money from his pension fund.

The NLC had awarded the Motheo Sports Foundation a grant of R9 million for the construction of a sports complex.

The first payment made was nearly R3.6 million. The SIU investigation revealed that this amount was not used for the funded project but was instead shared among several people and/or entities as an undue gratification.

It was alleged that Dlamini authorised the payment of the money based on falsified progress reports, despite no work being done on the funded project. Investigations revealed that the land was used as a dumping site.

A disciplinary inquiry subsequently found Dlamini guilty of gross negligence and misconduct, and he was dismissed.

The SIU now seeks to preserve Dlamini’s pension fund at Liberty Life Insurance, pending the outcome of a review application to recover the funds.

Dlamini, in opposing the application, said it is clear that the sports foundation received the funds and not him. He was not part of any fraud or scheme to siphon off money from the NLC. He was not present when the project was approved.

At that stage, he was the provincial manager for the KwaZulu-Natal office of the NLC. He asserted that he unfairly attracted blame for this entire saga for simply approving a payment of R3 million to the Motheo Foundation.

He argued that the money must be recovered from the principal debtors, being the persons and entities who received the NLC money. Therefore, he should not be held liable.

Dlamini said he based his approval of the progress report, the financial report, and visuals showing the site and work in progress. He stated that he was the victim of the fraud, as also the NLC.

The President of the Special Tribunal, Judge Margaret Victor, found that the interim preservation of the pension fund is justified.

“The money is not lost to the first respondent (Dlamini). He will have another chance in the main application, and of course, any appeals that he may pursue to defend his ownership and right to the pension fund.”

She said money belonging to the state has been lost. All this must be balanced against Dlamini’s rights to his pension fund. The value of his pension fund should not diminish while the main application awaits adjudication, she said.

zelda.venter@inl.co.za

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