Special Tribunal freezes R25-million in assets from stolen lottery funds

Money meant for Olympics roadshow was diverted to NLC officials

By Tania Broughton

19 May 2025

Archive photo: Ashraf Hendricks

• A Special Tribunal preservation order has frozen R25-million in assets purchased with money stolen from the National Lotteries Commission (NLC).
• The money was meant to fund a roadshow for the Rio Olympics in 2016, but instead was diverted to entities linked to NLC officials.
• The preserved assets include two properties and a R1.7-million Powerstar drill.

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has obtained a preservation order from the Special Tribunal freezing R25-million in assets linked to a corrupt National Lotteries Commission (NLC) grant.

The order, granted in April by Judge Margaret Victor, freezes two luxury properties and a high-value Powerstar drill/cleaner from funds that were meant for the 2016 Rio Olympics “Roadshow Send-Off” campaign.

The judgment comes after an SIU investigation into a coordinated scheme involving the Mshandukani Foundation, a non-profit organisation registered just four months before receiving the grant.

In July 2016, the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) applied for funding on behalf of the foundation, claiming it would support Olympic awareness events nationwide. Despite the foundation’s lack of track record, the NLC approved R24.98-million within six days.

The NLC paid the money to SASCOC, which then transferred it to the foundation in three tranches. Within days, the funds were diverted to entities linked to NLC officials. According to the SIU

• R15.4-million was transferred to Ironbridge Travel Agency, linked to former NLC Chief Operating Officer Phillemon Letwaba, which was spent on cars, goats and personal expenses, as well as a R1.7-million Powerstar drill/cleaner;
• R7.2-million was transferred to Mshandukani Holdings, controlled by Mashudu Shandukani, a member of the foundation. This was used to purchase a house and an office park in Centurion;
• R3-million was transferred to Mosokodi Business Trust, which is also linked to Letwaba; and
• Direct payments of R450,000 were made to Letwaba and R600,000 to former NLC legal manager Tsietsi Maseiwa.

SIU spokersperson Kaizer Kganyago did not respond to GroundUp’s request for clarity on why the amounts transferred add up to more than R24.98-million.

The properties in Centurion and the Powerstar drill are among the assets included in the preservation order.

This forms part of an ongoing investigation by the SIU, authorised by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2020 to probe plundering and dodgy deals in the affairs of the NLC.

The proclamation gives the SIU powers to recover any financial losses suffered by the state.

The former head of the NLC Alfred Nevhutanda is challenging the legality of the proclamation in a court case. He claims that it should be reviewed and set aside because the NLC is not a state entity.

This has been opposed by the SIU. The ongoing litigation is delaying the possible forfeiture of millions of rands of assets – including Nevhutanda’s R27-million house in Pretoria – already preserved as “proceeds of crime”.

Letwaba, in a separate matter, is also challenging the constitutionality of the Special Tribunal’s power to order the freezing and forfeiture of assets.

Because both matters raise constitutional challenges, it could take many years for them to be resolved in the courts.