The following letter was received and then a retraction issued – retraction follows the letter below:
Dear Editor
Yesterday at 13:00, a courier service arrived at the DA Federal Head Office in Cape Town to deliver a USB drive with sensitive information that we had requested from the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) relating to an ongoing corruption investigation that the DA has been pursing.
At that very same time and similar to a James Bond movie scene, four gunmen intercepted the delivery and made off with the USB drive.
The DA had previously submitted a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application regarding a service provider that was contracted by the NLC to in essence advise the NLC on how to distribute Covid-19 relief worth R150 million. The NLC paid the service provider R460 287.50.
Despite efforts by the NLC to block previous attempts by the DA to gain access to this information, our PAIA application was granted and the NLC promised that yesterday all requested information would be delivered to the DA federal head office in Cape Town on a USB stick due to “the voluminous nature of the information requested”.
The DA finds it extremely suspicious that gunmen would intercept the information that the NLC was so loath to hand over. It certainly appears to be an orchestrated attempt, by who we can only speculate at this point, to circumvent the due process of the PAIA application and keep the information contained regarding the beneficiaries of this NLC tender from public view.
It also raises serious security concerns regarding the safety of whistleblowers, including that of the DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Mat Cuthbert MP.
The DA urges SAPS to ensure that all involved in this heist be arrested as a matter of urgency, and we urge the NLC to honour the PAIA application and send the information again.
Regards
Mat Cuthbert MP
DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition
The retraction:
Following the hijacking yesterday, a delivery has subsequently been made to our Federal Head Office which appears to be the information the DA had requested from the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) through a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application.
While I should have done my utmost to make certain of all the facts before issuing the previous statements, and take full responsibility for the mistake, the DA still finds the circumstances around the hijacking highly suspicious but we trust that the South African Police Service (SAPS) will conduct a full investigation into what transpired.
For now, the DA is pleased that the information is in our hands. We will focus in studying the contents of the documents and share it with the public in due course.
Regards
Mat Cuthbert MP
DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition
