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lboogie1906 · 5 months ago

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Johnnie B. “Dusty” Baker Jr. (born June 15, 1949) is a baseball manager and former outfielder who is the manager of the Houston Astros. He played in MLB for 19 seasons, most notably with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was a two-time All-Star, won two Silver Slugger Awards and a Gold Glove Award, and became the first NLCS MVP, which he received during the 1977 National League Championship Series. He made three World Series appearances, winning one in 1981. He won his first World Series Championship as a manager in 2022 with the Houston Astros.

He served as the manager of the San Francisco Giants, the Chicago Cubs, the Cincinnati Reds, and the Washington Nationals. He has served as the manager of the Astros since 2020. He is the first MLB manager to reach the playoffs and win a division title with five different teams, having accomplished both feats with each team he managed. In addition to appearances with the Giants in 2002 and the Astros in 2021, and is the ninth manager to win pennants in both the American and National Leagues. He ranks ninth in MLB managerial wins and has the most wins among African American managers. He is the oldest manager to win a championship.

He grew up in Riverside, California, as the oldest of five children. His father worked as an Air Force sheet metal technician at Norton Air Force Base. He played a variety of sports growing up, describing basketball as his very first love while playing sports such as baseball, with his father being his coach for Little League. In 1963, the Baker family moved to the Sacramento area. He grew up as a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

He was a member of the Marine Corps Reserve. He married Melissa, and has two children, from his first marriage. His son Darren was drafted in the 27th round of the MLB draft by the team his father managed at the time, the Washington Nationals. He decided to play as an infielder for the California Golden Bears, and in 2021 he was drafted by the Nationals in the tenth round of the amateur draft, where this time he signed to join the organization. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

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news4usonline · 8 months ago

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The Dodgers' secret sauce

ARIZONA - The Dodgers enter the season with more superstar talent than any team in Major League Baseball (MLB). But what makes this group even more special is team depth and versatility. Manager Dave Roberts and President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman have always valued players who can play multiple positions. Chris Taylor has made a name for himself in Los Angeles doing just that.

Smashing: Kiki Hernandez goes yard on one of his two home runs against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Opening Day, March 28, 2019. The Dodgers his eight home runs in the team's opening day victory at Dodger Stadium. Photo by Dennis J. Freeman/News4usonline The two latest additions to the roster during Spring Training involved enhancing flexibility, something the front office has loved during their recent stretch of NL West dominance. With the re-signing of Kiké Hernández and the addition of Andre Lipcius, Los Angeles now once again leads the league in super-utility players. “I think they can move everywhere,” said Dave Roberts. Taylor made the All-Star team in 2021, moving all over the infield and outfield. Hernández can play anywhere, having seen time at every position on the diamond, excluding catcher. Yes, he has even pitched before. Lipcius will likely start the season in the minors but will be called upon in the case of injury. Last year, he saw time at first, second, and third base and even spent some time in left field. “I think adding Andre is just another piece of depth, where in a long season, things can happen. So, another guy that can play anywhere on the dirt and conduct an at-bat has sort of been one of our secret sauces on the position player side,” said Roberts. Lipcius got his first crack at big-league action last year with the Detroit Tigers and had a .286 batting average in 13 games. Surprisingly, he was DFAed midway through camp before being scooped up by the Dodgers. “I certainly know bringing Kiké back was a priority, and what CT has done for us over the last five years has been huge, so we expect Andre to fit that same mold,” said Roberts. For Hernández, it is another chance to cement himself further as one of the all-time fan favorites in Dodger Blue. He won a World Series with the team in 2020 and is often viewed as the guy who raises team morale in the dugout and locker room while also coming up with clutch hits in monumental situations.

Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts was selected as the National League Player of the Month for the month of August. Photo by Melinda Meijer/News4usonline His game-tying home run in game seven of the 2020 NLCS will go down as one of the biggest swings in Dodgers history, and his three-home run performance to send the Dodgers to the World Series in 2017 is just another example of how he always comes through in the biggest moments. “I feel like I am one of those players that plays better on winning teams and when a team is winning because of what I can bring to the table. In the end, it came down to Dodgers or Yankees,” said Hernández. “They were able to guarantee me to at least start against left-handed pitchers to start the year, and then from there on, anything can happen.” When Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, or Freddie Freeman need a day off this season, the lineup will not suffer. Another player will fill in with ease. Most teams would see a significant drop-off, but it is just business as usual for the Dodgers. It would not be surprising for one of the utility guys in Los Angeles to be the star on any given night, as it is something they have done time and time again. The rich keep getting richer, and at this point, it really is not even fair. Top Image Caption: LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 06: Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Chris Taylor (3) celebrates as he rounds the bases after hittting a walk-off two run home run in the 9th inning of the MLB National League Wild Card game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers on October 6, 2021 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire) Read the full article

#Dodgers

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crimechannels · 1 year ago

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By • Olalekan Fagbade JUST IN; Joe Ajaero mixing Politics With Unionism – Imo Governor Uzodimma breaks silence Governor Hope Uzodinma has accused President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero, of mixing politics with unionism. He said as an indigene of Imo, Ajaero has been involved in local politics The governor, who denied the allegation of orchestrating Wednesday’s attack on the labour leader, spoke on Thursday after receiving the flag of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as the governorship candidate of the party for the November 11 election from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Fielding questions from State House reporters, Uzudinma said it took his intervention before the NLC leaders in his state who were suspended and replaced with caretaker committee were reinstated. The governor said the embattled NLC president went ahead with protest when the state chapter which had backed his second term bid had dissociated themselves from the action. He also dismissed the insinuation that Imo State owed civil servants, explaining that he had automated the payment of salaries and had continued to pay N30,000 minimum wage and 13th month since January 15, 2020 when he was sworn in as governor. When asked about the allegations that he owed salaries of workers and orchestrated attack on Ajaero, he said: “I think is a very good opportunity for me to clear this so-called allegation. I came to Imo State as the governor January 15, 2020. From 2020 January till date, there is no month we did not pay salary before 30th. But the situation is that, before this time, I thought that the labour union is a democratic entity that allows the opinion of people. “I don’t pay federal civil servants. I only pay Imo State civil servants. And I challenge any Imo State civil servant to come up to say that between 2020 January 5 till date that he/she did not receive salary in any of the months. “What has happened in this ugly coincidence is that the national president of the Nigeria Labour Congress is from Imo State and has not been able to demarcate the difference between being a national leader of an organisation and then an interested party in local politics. But God would manage the situation.” When told that it was reported that he reneged on an agreement reached with the labour in 2021, Uzodinma said: “I still repeat….recall that I came in January 2020. By March, I started paying minimum wage of 30,000 that has been lying there, that previous leadership didn’t pay. By December, I paid 13th month; the first time in the history of Imo civil service and I’ve maintained continuously this 13th month payment as an incentive. I automated the payment systems. Salaries are now received in an automated manner in Imo State for the first time. “I brought new innovations. I reformed to civil service. No wonder that the civil service, entire Nigeria Labour Congress of Imo State chapter endorsed me and I’m the only candidate they are supporting in the election. The Nigerian Union of Pensioners endorsed me. From 2007 to 2020, no civil servant in Imo State received gratuity. It is only my government that has now floated bonds to pay outstanding gratuities to civil servants. So, I understand the sensitivity of this event. “But I wanted you people to be very careful because there is an attempt to mix up partisan politics or an attempt to blackmail my government, but I can tell you that my people are already aware, that was why the NLC Imo State chapter addressed a World Press Conference that what their National Leadership is doing is not correct, and that they are not going to do any strike or protest. And in the process, they decided to dissolve them to put in a caretaker. “Of course, I’m the chief security officer and I have a responsibility to intervene. I encourage the national leadership not to dissolve a management team that their tenure has not expired, and that was what they did. I don’t interfere

with labour matters, but I have convinced my workers in Imo State to believe in me, and that trust is what opposition parties are trying to fight. But I can assure you that Imo people already have taken that decision, 1th November is by the corner, come and observe the election.”

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newss-24 · 2 years ago

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Dodgy lawyer Lesley Ramulifho still doing work for Lottery

Lawyer represented NLC in salaries dispute this year

Despite being under investigation for corruption involving multimillion-rand Lottery grants, lawyer Lesley Ramulifho has continued to supply legal services to the National Lotteries Commission (NLC).

This was revealed in an arbitration award by Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) Commissioner Nathalie Willemse on 22 May.

The award states that Ramulifho Attorneys — Ramulifho’s law firm — represented the NLC in the matter and briefed an advocate to represent the NLC. Advocate Ben Ridgard, who represented the NLC in the arbitration matter, confirmed that Ramulifho’s law firm “was my instructing attorney”.

The award involved a long-running salary dispute between the NLC and two trade unions, the National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (NEHAWU) and the National Union of Public Service and Allied Workers (NUPSAW). The dispute had dragged on since 2014 before being settled in favour of the unions’ members, after several hearings, the most recent of which was in April this year.

The NLC did not respond to emailed questions about Ramulifho’s work for the Commission. Ramulifho was emailed a copy of the same questions sent to the NLC, asking him for comment. He did not respond either.

There was also no response to an email sent for the attention of the NLC board via board member Willie Hofmeyr.

Organisations linked to Ramulifho and members of his staff employed in his Pretoria law practice have received at least R60 million in Lottery grants. Among these are an R27.5 million grant to Denzhe Primary Care, a hijacked nonprofit organisation, for a drug rehabilitation centre near Pretoria, where at least R20 million is unaccounted for.

Newss24 has reported how Ramulifho used the Denzhe grants as his personal ATM, and to help pay for a luxury home he bought for himself on a luxury Pretoria “country estate”. We have also reported how Ramulifho forged documents in an affidavit he filed in a case he launched against Newss24.

Responding to a parliamentary question in July 2020, NLC Commissioner Thabang Mampane said that neither Ramulifho nor his firm were on the NLC panel of approved attorneys.

Nevertheless, she confirmed that “Ramulifho Inc. has rendered legal services for labour-related issues to the then National Lotteries Board now the NLC. This was approximately around 2014, prior to the advent of the [NLC] panel of legal service providers.”

What Mampane didn’t disclose is that though neither Ramulifho nor his law firm were on the NLC’s panel of lawyers, Ramulifho had continued doing legal work for the NLC. (Lawyers must go through a tender process to get onto the panel.)

This was only revealed in a response almost 18 months later, in March 2021, by Mampane to another Parliamentary question, in which she confirmed that Ramulifho Inc Attorneys had been paid R5.4 million by the NLC for legal work between the 2016-17 and 2019-20 financial years.

#lawyer #Ramulifho lawyer #NLC

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hardynwa · 1 year ago

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First 30 days: Tinubu takes positive, painful steps

30 days after assuming office, President Bola Tinubu’s economic policies and reforms have attracted both praise and criticism from home and abroad. However, the most vulnerable Nigerians only hear hardship as Renewed Hope risks morphing into despair, STEPHEN ANGBULU writes If momentum and speed were the only markers of a successful administration, Nigerians would score President Bola Tinubu incredibly high in performance in his first 30 days in office. The discontinuance of petrol subsidy and the unified exchange rate have attracted the praise of many multilateral organisations, foreign investors and Nigerians comfortable enough to bear the combined consequences of these policies. For most citizens, however, the past 30+ days have been a via dolorosa, even as the promised palliatives meant to cushion the aftershocks remain yet elusive. On inauguration day, the President shocked the petroleum market when he uttered, “Subsidy is gone!” Though not in the original text of his maiden speech, those words rang throughout the nation, with a cascading scarcity in petrol even as pump price tripled from N195 to N600 in hours. The next day, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited published its updated pricing template, ending doubts that the high prices were here to stay. In a statement issued on May 31, and signed by its Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Garba Deen Muhammad, the national oil company explained that the adjusted pump price aligned with “current market realities.” That reality also includes a 100 per cent or more hike in transport fares. At the same time, long queues resurfaced at fuel stations across Lagos, Abuja, Ilorin, Benin, Asaba, Port Harcourt, Kano, Makurdi and other major cities and urban areas in the country. Unlike in 2012, when the Goodluck Jonathan administration tried to remove the petrol subsidy without success, stakeholders in the oil and gas sector as well as the organised labour, agreed that the subsidy had to go. However, critics faulted the timing. They argued that the N3.6bn allocated for petrol subsidy in the 2023 budget covered was sufficient until June end, but the new administration insisted on discontinuing it immediately. For the Nigeria Labour Congress, Tinubu’s decision bypassed consultations with critical stakeholders. The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, had also said the administration did not make adequate plans for palliatives before pulling the plug. As labour unions and millions of vulnerable Nigerians wailed, international development partners and investors hailed the decision. They argued that not only did the subsidy primarily benefit the rich, but its long-term implication for the economy was also dire. The World Bank Nigeria Public Finance Review Report released last November read, “For years, a large share of Nigeria’s resources has financed inefficient and regressive subsidies for petrol, electricity, and foreign exchange. “Not all these subsidies are accounted for in the budget, which makes them difficult to track and scrutinise. “However, available data suggest that these subsidies, which accounted for more than the amount spent on education, health, and social protection in 2021, benefit primarily wealthy households.” Therefore, its Nigeria Development Update, issued on June 27, urged the F.G. to look beyond petroleum and end all forms of subsidies enjoyed by Nigerians to prevent a fiscal implosion. The bank noted that the bottom 40 per cent of Nigerians received less than three per cent of subsidies directly while “the top 60 per cent received over 23 per cent.” With the petrol subsidy gone, the early benefits appear to trickle in. Since May 31, the FG has saved about N400bn, oil marketers stated on Thursday, June 29. However, the World Bank has stated that about 7.1 million Nigerians would become poor if the FG failed to compensate or provide palliatives for them following the removal of the fuel subsidy. It said 89.8 million Nigerians were poor as of the beginning of 2023, while four million more became poor between January and May, raising the figure to 93.8 million. As more citizens sink into multidimensional poverty, the F.G. and Organised Labour are yet to finalise the various scopes of intervention. At the last meeting between both parties at the Presidential Villa on June 19, the F.G. said it had set up a steering committee to consider the various demands of the Organised Labour to produce a workable framework in eight weeks, that is, by August 14. Mouth-watering Palliatives Proposed The N200,000 new minimum wage, the Compressed Natural Gas-run transport buses and the cash transfers to vulnerable households are among discussions on the table until August 14. Dr Olalekan Aworinde is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics, School of Management and Social Sciences, Pan-Atlantic University. He says the reduced purchasing power of many Nigerians would lower their standard of living. “It will have temporary, short-term and long-term effects. The temporary effect is what we are seeing now. This is to tell you that the level of inflation has risen despite all the measures by the CBN to control it,” he said. Unified Exchange Rate The Apex Bank directed Deposit Money Banks to remove the rate cap on the naira at the Investor’s and Exporters’ Window of the foreign exchange market. This allowed for the free-floating of the national currency against the dollar and other global currencies. According to the International Trade Centre, value of Nigeria’s total export in 2022 was $63.34 billion. At N448.55/dollar (the central price of the dollar as of December 30, 2022, on the CBN’s website), its naira equivalent was N28.41 trillion. Now, its naira equivalent would translate to at least N41.99 trillion. If the country exports the same quantity it did in 2022, it will earn about N41.99 trillion. With the government’s plan to ramp up oil production, a significant component of the country’s export, Nigeria’s export value is expected to increase. The unified exchange rate has received widespread acclaim from the British, US and South Korean governments as well as other multilateral finance institutions, who say it spells an upward path for Nigeria’s economy. However, there are interim consequences. In its June 2023 Nigeria Development Update, the World Bank projected that inflation may hit 25 per cent in 2023 as a result of petrol subsidy removal. The report read, “The removal of the petrol subsidy is anticipated to cause a temporary increase in inflation in the upcoming months before contributing to disinflation in the medium term. “The price increases resulting from the subsidy removal will have a one-time impact on prices, primarily affecting petrol purchases for transportation, power generation, and certain services.” Already, the devaluation of the naira has led to a substantial increase in airfares, negatively affecting the summer holiday arrangements of several travellers, The PUNCH reported. Airfares on international routes from Nigeria to the United States, Europe and the Middle East have soared considerably due to the naira depreciation triggered by the cancellation of the parallel forex market. The new President leaves no room for doubts in choosing those who will drive his Renewed Hope Agenda. Speaking to a group of Nigerians in Paris, France, on June 24, President Tinubu said the financial system he met was “rotten” under the erstwhile CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele. Two weeks earlier, he had suspended Emefiele sequel to an ongoing investigation of his office and the planned reforms in the economy’s financial sector. He also appointed Folashodun Shonubi to act pending the outcome of the investigation. Although Emefiele’s tenure saw the lowering of the non-performing loans of Nigerian banks from 30 to below five per cent, analysts agree that he performed woefully on several dimensions. The inflation rate rose to over 24 per cent. The naira lost over 70 per cent of its value in the past nine years and the effective commercial interest rate now surpasses 30 per cent. More so, he oversaw the controversial naira redesign programme, which the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise said cost the economy about N20 trillion in Q1 2023. In its Q1 report, released on July 2, the CPPE also revealed that Nigeria’s economic growth reduced to 2.3 per cent in the same period compared to 3.1 per cent in the last quarter. On June 14, Tinubu suspended the chairman of the Economic and Financial Commission, Abdulrasheed Bawa, over “Weighty allegations of abuse of office levelled against him.” The suspension was to allow for a proper investigation into his conduct while in office. As the investigations near one month, renowned lawyer, Femi Falana, has urged the Department of State Services to speed up investigations into both cases. The President named eight persons as special advisers. They include Nuhu Ribadu as National Security Adviser; Wale Edun as Special Adviser on Monetary Policies; Olu Verheijen as S.A. on Energy, and Zacchaeus Adedeji as S.A. on Revenue. Others are John Uwajumogu as S.A. Industry, Trade and Investment and Salma Anas as S.A. Health. He also appointed Hadiza Bala Usman as S.A. on Policy Coordination; Hannatu Musawa as S.A., Culture and Entertainment Economy, Senator Abdullahi Gumel as Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters and Olarewaju Ibrahim as SSA on National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives). Days earlier, he had appointed the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, as Chief of Staff, and former Benue State governor, George Akume, as Secretary to the Government of the Federation. The President also appointed new helmsmen in the military. As the administration enters its second month, Nigerians expect President Tinubu to make his most anticipated appointments yet; the ministers in his cabinet. Before then, however, political analysts have urged the President to be guided by character, competence and knowledge. Jide Ojo is an Abuja-based Public Affairs Analyst and Executive Director at OJA Development Consult. He said the next set of cabinet members must emerge by virtue of their character, competence and knowledge. On his part, Auwal Rafsanjani, who is the Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, advised the President to “avoid people who have been accused of diversion of public funds, a record of human rights abuses and/or mismanagement of governance in their respective states, p Read the full article

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arknewshub · 2 years ago

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Noose tightens around Lotto looters

The noose is tightening around the people alleged to have been involved in the systematic looting of the National Lottery Commission (NLC) as investigations into the misappropriation of at least R1.4-million in grant funding gathers steam.

In the latest move, the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) was granted preservation orders freezing various assets of people implicated in the fraud. Several of them are from the Vhembe area.

The alleged fraud was being investigated by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) and the Hawks, and the AFU has now joined in.

Nine properties, including luxury houses and a farm, were frozen after a secret application by the NPA was granted. The application was heard by Gauteng Division Deputy Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba in his chambers last Friday morning.

Two Ocean Basket franchises and a farm, belonging to dodgy Pretoria lawyer Lesley Ramulifho, and a top-of-the-range BMW 420i, belonging to the NLC’s former chief operating officer (COO), Phillemon Letwaba, were also included in the order.

In total, the assets that were frozen were valued at over R25 million. They include the luxury three-storey home of the actress, Terry Pheto, best known for her roles in the movie Tsotsi and the soapie The Bold and the Beautiful. The house was allegedly built using R3 million of lottery grant money meant for an “initiation programme”.

Vhembe also features

Two Louis Trichardt residents also featured prominently in last week’s seizures of property. Collins Tshisimba and his wife, Fulufhelo Promise Kharivhe, had two townhouses in Gauteng frozen by the court. Both have been described by the SIU as kingpins in the looting of grant funding. A company of which Kharivhe is the sole director, Thwala Front, was allegedly used to launder millions in looted Lottery grants. Thwala Front has its registered address as 64 Anderson Street, Louis Trichardt.

Collin Tshisimba is a member of three non-profit organisations – Make Me Movement, Lethabong Old Age and Mbidzo Development Program – which received a combined total of R53 million in Lottery funding.

Independent investigators appointed by the NLC to investigate allegations of corruption found that of the R26,8 million given to the Lethabong old-age home in Kuruman in the Northern Cape, only R10,6 million was spent on the facility. The home is still unfinished.

Tshisimba also featured prominently in a multi-million-rand Lottery project to rebuild Vhafamadi School in Malamulele after it was destroyed during protests in 2016. A Limpopo-based NPO - Simba Community Development Foundation - received R28,3 million to rebuild the school, but a large chunk of the money found its way to individuals, including family and entities linked to former COO Letwaba.

After the money was received by Simba, R4 million was transferred to Upbrand Properties, a company linked to Letwaba, according to a statement issued by the SIU in September this year. Upbrand, in turn, paid almost R4 million to attorneys handling the purchase of a luxury home on a golf estate in North West for former NLC commissioner Thabang Mampane. The home was among the properties frozen by the court.

Online publication GroundUp reported that Mbidzo Development Programme had received R8 million in funding from the NLC between 2014/15 and 2016/17 for undisclosed projects. On 28 March 2018, a sum of R2 million was paid out of the NPO’s account into the bond account of Advocate Willie Huma, to help pay for his luxury Waterkloof home. At the time, Huma was an NLC board member. A further R500 000 was paid into Huma’s bond account on 14 May 2018.

A local laundromat?

Fulufhelo Promise Kharivhe was arrested and charged with corruption early in 2021. She appeared in the Palm Ridge Commercial Crime Court, along with five other suspects, in connection with a R1.57 million grant awarded to a non-profit organisation, The Message. Of this amount, R200 000 was paid into Thwala Front’s bank account.

In August this year, only one of the accused, Christopher Tshivule (46), was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment for fraud. Charges against the other accused were all dropped, apparently after they had made representations to the NPA. Tshivule is from the Vhembe region and the bank account used to syphon off the funds was opened in Louis Trichardt.

Tshivule pleaded guilty and said that he had misrepresented himself as the chairperson of The Message. He said that he had applied for funding of R3 million for a “traditional arts festival”. On 8 October 2018, the NLC paid over R1,575 million into the account of which he, his niece Mukondeleli Tshivule (27) and Thomas Ndadza (49) were all signatories.

Kharivhe’s company, Thwala Front, was allegedly used on more than one occasion to “launder” Lottery funds. In April 2018, Thwala received funds from another non-profit organisation and then paid R1.9 million into the bond account for Huma’s Waterkloof house.

Luxury mansions and hijacked NPOs

On 15 June this year, a preservation order was granted by Special Tribunal Judge Soma Naidoo regarding the multi-million-rand luxury home and furniture of former NLC board chairman Alfred Nevhutanda. An order was also granted against Vhutanda Investments, a private company that owns the property. Nevhutanda is the sole director of the company, according to official company records,

At the time that the home, which is set on its own, private two-hectare estate in a suburb of Pretoria, was purchased, Nevhutanda was the long-time chairperson of the NLC board. The judge also instructed the SIU to initiate civil proceedings against Nevhutanda and Vhutanda “for the disgorgement of secret profits improperly earned” during Nevhutanda’s tenure as the NLC board’s chairman.

Nevhutanda is no stranger to Vhembe, having worked in the area for many years as lecturer at the Makhado College of Education. He served as the NLC board’s chairperson for a period of 11 years until 2020, and he is a former ANC Limpopo chairperson.

He received a PhD in education from Unisa in 2000 and a doctorate in music in 2005. He also claims a controversial professorship, awarded to him by the dodgy International Eco-energy Academy of Azerbaijan and refers to himself as “Professor” Alfred Nevhutanda.

Another NPO named in the preservation order is Mushumo Ushavha Zwanda, which received R27.4 million to build an old-age home at Maila village, 30 km southeast of Louis Trichardt.

In March this year, SIU head Advocate Andy Mothibi told Parliament’s Trade, Industry and Competition Portfolio Committee that the NPO had been hijacked. Mothibi did not mention Mushumo Ushavha Zwanda by name when he told MPs that, shortly after the first tranche of R20 million had been paid into the NPO’s bank account, R4 million had been transferred to attorneys handling a property transaction for a former NLC board member.

The former board member was Alfred Nevhutanda, and the money was allegedly used to help pay for his lavish R27-million mansion in Annlin, in Pretoria.

Public Auction

The next step, now that assets have been frozen, will be to apply for a forfeiture order, NPA spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana said in a media statement last week after the latest preservation orders were granted. “Once a forfeiture order is granted, the properties will be sold at public auction, and proceeds returned to the NLC.”

Mahanjana said investigations had revealed that Lottery grants had been used to buy luxury properties for the benefit of employees of the NLC and members of the non-profit organisations or their family members and friends. In many of the cases, properties were registered in the names of the entities and not in the names of private individuals, she said.

“Some entities masqueraded as construction companies but did not do construction (or very little) and were effectively used as money-laundering vehicles to receive kickbacks from non-profit organisations who received grants from the NLC,” she said.

GroundUp reported earlier this week that investigations into further matters involving the abuse of Lottery funds are nearing completion and more applications to freeze assets will be brought before the courts soon.

GroundUp also quoted sources as saying that the SIU had “made criminal referrals” to the NPA involving Letwaba, Ramulifho, Mampane, Nevhutanda, former board member William Huma, and Mashudu Shandukani, who is included in last Friday’s order, and his wife, Pretty. Shandukani’s company was the main contractor for construction of Vhafamadi School, on a Lottery-funded project to build a school in Limpopo, where millions of rands were misappropriated.

Where to from here?

During a second report back on the SIU’s investigations, Mothibi told Parliament in September that they were investigating more than R1.4-billion in dodgy Lottery grants. The first phase of the SIU’s investigation was complete and involved 12 grants, valued at R279.7 million, which were “corruptly syphoned out of the NLC with the assistance of [former NLC] Executive and Board members”.

The second phase, which is currently underway, involves 17 matters, and the SIU had identified R246.6 million in grants for investigation, Mothibi told MPs. The report on this phase of the investigation is due in March 2023. The third phase, which will begin in April next year, will probe grants valued at R905.9 million, bringing the total of grants under investigation to R1.4 billion. If further information on corrupt grants were received, these would also be investigated, Mothibi said.

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