Leaked report exposes abuse of lottery revenue compensated to minstrel team
Leaked report exposes abuse of lottery revenue compensated to minstrel team
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Minstrels conduct in Athlone on 2 January 2017. Archive Picture: Ashraf Hendricks
A report by Lawyers Dabishi Nthambeleni into a R27.3-million grant by the National Lotteries Commission to your Cape City Minstrel Carnival Affiliation (CTMCA) for just a minstrels museum has located no proof that a museum ever existed.
The investigators identified the CTMCA did not utilize the R5-million allotted to get or build a museum.
In addition they identified the CTMCA only bought land really worth R1.seven-million, not R5-million as allotted.
They found the CTMCA utilised funds with the Lottery to buy workshop equipment from certainly one of its possess directors, Richard “Pot” Stemmet.
A leaked forensic report reveals how a lot of rand granted for the Cape Town Minstrel Carnival Affiliation (CTMCA) by the Countrywide Lotteries Commission (NLC) to setup a museum to rejoice the town’s loaded minstrel history went astray. The museum was under no circumstances created.
The details from the abuse of an incredible number of rands of Lottery cash for the museum that never ever was are unveiled in an investigative report commissioned from the NLC in 2021.
The museum grant was A part of more than R64-million in Lottery cash allocated into the CTMCA amongst 2003 and 2017.
The very first part of the investigation, by legislation business Dabishi Nthambeleni, was carried out concerning September 2020 and January 2021 and focused on a R27.3-million grant to your CTMCA in 2014, which integrated funding to the museum. The authorised price range to the museum was much more than R12.eight-million, with R5-million of that allotted for your setting up to deal with the museum.
Browse the report (PDF, 7MB)
The NLC tasked Dabishi Nthambeleni to analyze the acquisition of a developing for the museum and whether or not the museum “in fact existed”.
The agency was also instructed to investigate
the acquisition with Lottery money of two vehicles – a sixty-seater bus as well as a 23-seater bus – for R2.four-million; and
several machines “ordered for your production from the costumes and hats” for that minstrels carnival, for R5.four-million.
At the time, convicted legal Richard “Pot” Stemmet was director of your CTMCA. He was appointed a director from the CTMCA in September 1996. He resigned in December 2016 but his wife Zainonesa and daughter Raziah continued as two of various administrators of the organisation. Stemmet was reappointed as being a director in May possibly 2021.
The investigation followed intensive reporting by GroundUp regarding the an incredible number of rands of Lottery funding allocated towards the CTMCA (see right here, right here and here) and just how the cash possibly helped finance the ANC’s 2014 election marketing campaign inside the Western Cape, led by at the time by Marius Fransman.
The setting up on the best was the supposed internet site of the minstrels’ museum, in the midst of an industrial area in Primrose Park, Cape Town. Picture: Raymond Joseph
In reaction to some Parliamentary problem, previous NLC Commissioner Thabang Mampane outlined grants to a few CTMCA “initiatives” - such as the museum - between 2012 and 2015. All three tasks had been finished, she advised MPs.
Although the investigators uncovered no evidence that a museum had ever existed.
In the beginning the museum was as a result of open in rented premises in Crete Highway, Wetton. A photograph obtained by GroundUp of the meant Wetton museum displays a coffee store with some musical devices and minstrel costumes and collages of pictures haphazardly hung on the walls, along with a product ship on its plinth within a corner.
In its report, Dabishi Nthambeleni said it had been “not ready” to confirm if a museum had ever operated from these premises.
Stemmet explained to the investigators the museum had been moved as they could now not pay for the lease of R100,000 a month. He claimed the CTMCA experienced procured property for R1.7-million in Schaapkraal for your museum, but could not get it rezoned, and had been bought for a similar rate. Schaapkraal is in a peri-city space considerably from the town.
Due to this fact, the museum had been moved to a brand new place in Primrose Park in February 2021, Stemmet told the Dabishi Nthambeleni investigators. But just after traveling to the premises, which might be in an industrial place, the investigators stated they doubted whether or not a suitable museum existed there. Pictures connected into the report present a mishmash of randomly shown uniforms, musical devices and various minstrel paraphernalia nailed towards the wall, shown on tables and unfold out on the ground, without rationalization.
“You will find there's minimal level of things with the museum [that] under no circumstances depict the in excess of one hundred-yr background of the Cape City Carnival, the investigators explained, including that there was “no signage outside the house the premises indicating they housed a museum and … usually, the museum does not glance for being open to the general public.”
The CTMCA had breached the grant arrangement, Dabishi Nthambeleni mentioned, by moving the location in the museum to another site without notifying the NLC.
The Schaapkraal residence, on which no museum was ever created. Image: Raymond Joseph
Buses
Stemmet informed the investigators which the CTMCA experienced to maneuver from your rented Crete Street premises mainly because it had run up a R4-million personal debt with the City of Cape Town and was concerned its products could well be hooked up.
“Mainly because of the lawful battles plus the debts, the organisation had to maneuver its residence from 5 Crete Highway to stay away from the sheriff from attaching the property with the organisation,” Stemmet advised the investigators.
Sedrick Soeker, The existing director on the CTMCA, told them the two buses acquired with lottery funds have been saved inside a solution place “hidden with the Sheriff”. However the investigators explained they were being not able to substantiate that any buses experienced at any time been acquired.
Stemmet also verified the buses had been hidden to stop them becoming seized. But once the investigators asked to become taken towards the location exactly where the buses were saved, he advised them that “the owner of The trick spot was not accessible to open the premises for us”.
“The CTMCA couldn't offer evidence of payment for two cars that it allegedly obtained with grant money,” the investigators described.
Soeker also informed them the Schaapkraal residence had been offered due to personal debt.
“Mr Soeker spelled out that In keeping with his being familiar with, mainly because of the credit card debt owed to the City of Cape City, the CTMCA made the decision it would be finest to promote their [Schaapkraal] assets … and to also to cover the belongings in the CTMCA to steer clear of the sheriff from attaching the home.”
JP Smith, Cape Town’s mayco member for protection and security, has Formerly instructed GroundUp which the CTMCA “threw cash away” on litigation with the City.
“Each and every year like clockwork, as we solution the top of the year, the CTMCA picks a legal fight with town, over permits or another thing. We never initiate it. They keep throwing money absent on vexatious litigation they drop and have costs awarded versus them. This is often fully self-inflicted,” he mentioned.
Soeker told the Dabishi Nthambeleni investigators that the main position gamers on issues of Lottery funding were being Stemmet and former CTMCA board member Kevin Momberg, “who ended up in control of many of the admin, finances and managing lottovip the CTMCA.” The investigators explained they had been struggling to Speak to Momberg.
Hats
Throughout their “investigation in loco” within the Primrose Park premises, the investigators “located many devices, some in good issue, some in bad issue plus some that looked rusty and extremely previous”. Stemmet instructed the investigators that there was also an off-web page storage facility exactly where “instruments and a few machinery” had been held.
“We requested him to just take us to the ability but he was evasive to our request.”
According to pictures and invoices in GroundUp’s possession, some, Otherwise all, of your goods seem like tools which was illegally faraway from the CTMCA’s earlier premises. Stemmet is dealing with rates for this elimination.
According to the closing progress report submitted into the NLC with the CTMCA, the equipment was obtained from Martin-Conne Milliners, a company through which Stemmet, his spouse and his daughter were directors at enough time.
The investigators uncovered this “alarming”.
“From your CIPC research of Martin-Conne Milliners as well as invoices submitted, we note the following alarming locating: Mr Stemmet himself is often a director of Martin-Conne Milliners. The registered tackle of the corporation is five Crete Street, Wetton, Cape Town, the identical deal with on which the museum was intended to be crafted and/or transformed,” they documented.
An audit by accountants Kopano Incorporated, hooked up to your investigative report, recorded the CTMCA was in the process of paying for “machinery, plant and inventory” valued at R8.1-million from Stalph 164 CC, buying and selling as Martin-Conne Milliners. Staph 164 was a close Company of which Stemmet was certainly one of the administrators.
Based on Dabishi Nthambeleni, the corporate has paid R1.2-million being a deposit, meaning R6.9-million continues to be owed, nevertheless there's no payment date set for when this need to be compensated.
The Kopano audit and the close hyperlink in between the companies “show to us that there is ‘foul play’ involved in the acquisition with the equipment in the museum workshop”, the investigators mentioned within the report.
“We discover that it is extremely possible that CTMCA utilised the funding from the NLC to ‘refund’ one of its key directors for that home at an increased overpriced charge than the particular cost and worth of the assets and/or machinery.”
Suggestions
Dabishi Nthambeleni concluded that it absolutely was not able to establish how the grant for the CTMCA had been expended.
“In reality, a detailed report on how the funding from the NLC was utilised, might be impossible because the CTMCA does not have any receipts, or evidence of payments to substantiate the quantities put in on Just about every merchandise it requested funding for. The interim report and final report of the CTMCA only connect invoices,” Dabishi Nthambeleni concluded.
The investigators located that the NLC experienced not carried out a web site go to before approving the grant. But this wasn't regular observe at time they usually identified no proof of carelessness by NLC personnel.
At some time, the NLC’s principles didn't require funded organisations to submit proof of payment with interim stories, they identified. This intended that the CTMCA was capable of receive a 2nd tranche of funding while not having to deliver evidence that it experienced made use of the first tranche for its intended objective.
Following the appointment of a fresh board, commissioner and senior executive team, the NLC has tightened up on these as well as other problems.
Dabishi Nthambeleni recommended that
the NLC drop any foreseeable future funding programs from the CTMCA;
the CTMCA and any customers who had been linked to the grant be subjected on the NLC’s “delinquency” procedure;
the NLC open a prison situation of fraud with SAPS or perhaps the Hawks for allegations of fraud; and
the NLC start the entire process of recovering the misappropriated resources.
But, as opposed to act about the report’s tips, the NLC – under its prior administration – chose to suppress it, because it had accomplished While using the previous reports into corruption it had commissioned.
GroundUp despatched thoughts to Stemmet and Soeker by using SMS, and questioned for e mail addresses to ship the queries by email too. But no reaction had been received at some time of publication.
The minstrel “museum” in Crete Street, Wetton. Image: Raymond Joseph