The ‘housewife’, the driver, the pensioner and the dodgy lottery grant

---

1. The E-mail That Lit the Fuse

On a sticky December afternoon in 2018, an unremarkable purchase order reached the Birchwood Hotel’s sales inbox. The mail requested fifty-five single rooms and exclusive use of the conference hall for the coming Tuesday, 11 December. The sender claimed to be the Todi Media Development Foundation, pledged settlement within two days, and vanished in the digital haze.

Eighteen months later investigators would drag that very message into the harsh light of sworn affidavits. They used it to show how the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) casually channelled R1.5-million into what turned out to be South Africa’s priciest day-long “community-media briefing”.

The price-per-head worked out to roughly R30 000 for every body that later appeared on the Birchwood sign-in sheet - enough to buy a compact car instead of a conference sandwich.

---

2. The Ghost Company and Its Paper Directors

No one in Moime village could recall Todi Media holding a single meeting before November 2018. The foundation never ran a website, never issued a newsletter, and had no physical footprint except a postbox wedged between a funeral parlour and a chicken take-away.

The Trio at the Wheel

• Sekedi Rathethe, a pensioner drawing a SASSA grant, lived three metres from Martha. Their only joint venture, villagers joke, used to be sharing fence poles.
• Khutso Daniel Makwela had spent years chauffeuring executives for Tiso Blackstar. Colleagues remember him as courteous; none knew he moonlighted as a director of a Lotto-funded charity.

When reporters visited Moime in 2022, residents remembered a shiny black double-cab that had visited once or twice. No one could identify the occupants; the vehicle was never seen again.

---

3. Forty-Eight Hours of Fast Money

Midnight Stroke of a Keyboard

Ramatsekia, a Lotto grants manager, typed the motivation line at 23:54 on 12 November 2018: “Capacity building for community journalists to enhance development journalism”. No concept note, no budget, no beneficiary list accompanied the entry. Nine hours later the chair of the Distributing Agency ticked “Approved”.

Rubber-Stamp Timeline

• 19 November: A grant agreement materialised, curiously back-dated to the 16th. Forensic teams later found two copies - one of them mysteriously missing page six.
• 21 November: Treasury pushed through the full R1.5-million to Todi’s Standard Bank account.
• 22 November: Todi instantly wired R450,000 to Unscripted Communications, a company run by Makhudu Sefara, soon to become Sunday World editor-in-chief.

---

4. Cash Rain on Connected Elites

Unscripted Communications – R550,000

Sefara’s firm received the first slice. He later produced a two-page statement and nine blurry photographs; none carried verifiable EXIF data. One frame showed an official who insisted she had actually spoken at an unrelated MDDA colloquium months earlier.

Black Dangaree Enterprise – R900,000

Daniel Matome Malatji, father of Sunday World deputy editor Ngwako Malatji, pulled the the second lever. Within three days, Black Dangaree shoved the entire sum to Absa Home Loans as a deposit on a R1.85-million Bassonia Rock house - registered in the names of Ngwako and Martha Malatji.

The Missing R50,000

Bank statements recorded a final outgoing transfer to “Azania Consulting”. CIPC has no record of such a company; the account traces back to an individual cellphone number now disconnected.

---

5. A R300,000 Conference Wrapped in R1.2-million Fog

Birchwood’s own invoice says the all-in package - 55 rooms, the hall, two minibuses, canapés and finger-lunch - came to roughly R170,000 with VAT included. No flights were booked, because every invitee lived in Gauteng. Even if the organisers paid keynote speakers and a photographer handsomely, the spend barely nudges R300,000. The remaining R1.2-million evaporated into un-itemised ether.

Delegates who spoke to GroundUp recalled little more than a short morning session; one community-radio stringer signed the register twice because “the first day was so brief we assumed it would continue”. When Birchwood’s servers fell to ransomware in 2021, electronic attendance logs vanished forever.

---

6. Shell Firms, Shredders and a Trail of Bricks and Mortar

Paper Castles

Todi Media and sibling entity Zibsiflo never filed annual returns. CIPC auto-de-registered both; their shared postal address is still the Moime Village Spar. Zibsiflo later scooped a second Lotto cheque - R1.7-million - meant for a women’s soccer tournament that Covid lockdowns cancelled. Black Dangaree still invoiced “mobilisation costs” days before Ngwako Malatji bought yet another Bassonia property.

Bulldozed Evidence

During a February 2020 weekend, contractors hauled roughly 120 boxes of archived grant files out of the NLC’s Hatfield offices. A technician later swore he had been ordered to delete every electronic folder related to pro-active grants between 2017 and 2019. Deloitte forensic auditors salvaged e-mail shadows but never recovered 1.7 terabytes of attachments.

Property Spree

Deeds Office records reveal R11.5-million in bricks and land snapped up by Ngwako and Martha Malatji after 2018:
- Bassonia houses, Cosmo City rental flats, and a Sandton stand - mostly paid in cash or via companies flush with Lotto money.

---

7. Recoveries, Departures and the Way Forward

Money Back - But Not All Justice

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) clawed back the original R1.5-million and the subsequent R1.7-million without court orders; both amounts were “returned voluntarily” in 2023. Preservation orders now hover over the acquired properties.

Careers Interrupted

• Malatji resigned from Sunday World the day after receiving a preservation notice.
• Sefara remains on special leave from Arena Holdings and is reportedly advising a Cape Town NGO on governance reform.

Regulatory Fix Still Stuck

Parliament has twice proposed capping proactive grants at R250,000 and putting every idea through a 15-day public-comment window. Both bills stalled, yet the new NLC board - appointed in October 2022 - has frozen proactive funding and is rebuilding its application portal on a blockchain ledger.

---

8. The Real Victims in Moime Village

Moime FM still broadcasts from a repurposed shipping container. Its transmitter dies for want of an R8,000 spare part while Lotto funds paid for cappuccino cups in Boksburg. Station chair Tinyiko Ngobeni sums it up: “We phoned every number we had for the NLC. We were told to wait for the open call. Meanwhile R30,000 per head went to people who already had jobs in Johannesburg, and we still cannot fix a mixer.”

[{"question": "What was the 'media workshop' scandal about?", "answer": "The 'media workshop' scandal involved the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) funneling R1.5-million through a ghost company, Todi Media Development Foundation, for a one-day event. This event, priced at R30,000 per delegate, was a fraudulent scheme where funds were diverted to individuals connected to NLC officials, including for property purchases, rather than supporting community media as claimed."}, {"question": "Who were the key figures involved in the Todi Media Development Foundation?", "answer": "The Todi Media Development Foundation was a ghost company with no real operations. Its listed directors included Sekedi Rathethe, a pensioner receiving a SASSA grant, and Khutso Daniel Makwela, a chauffeur. Neither had any known involvement in media development, and the company lacked a physical presence or any public activities."}, {"question": "How was the R1.5-million grant approved and disbursed so quickly?", "answer": "The R1.5-million grant was approved with extreme speed and minimal oversight. An NLC grants manager, Ramatsekia, typed a motivation for 'Capacity building for community journalists' late at night without supporting documentation. Nine hours later, it was approved. The grant agreement was back-dated, and the full R1.5-million was transferred to Todi's account within days, with large sums immediately wired to other entities like Unscripted Communications and Black Dangaree Enterprise."}, {"question": "Where did the R1.5-million from the 'media workshop' ultimately go?", "answer": "The R1.5-million was quickly distributed. R450,000 went to Unscripted Communications, run by Makhudu Sefara. A significant R900,000 was transferred to Black Dangaree Enterprise, which then used it as a deposit for a R1.85-million property registered to Ngwako and Martha Malatji. A missing R50,000 was sent to 'Azania Consulting,' an untraceable entity. In essence, the money was used for personal gain and property acquisition by connected individuals."}, {"question": "What was the actual cost of the 'media workshop' compared to the R1.5-million grant?", "answer": "The actual cost of the one-day 'media workshop' was significantly lower than the R1.5-million granted. The Birchwood Hotel's invoice for 55 rooms, the conference hall, transport, canapés, and lunch amounted to approximately R170,000. Even with generous estimates for speakers and photographers, the total expenditure barely reached R300,000, leaving around R1.2-million unaccounted for and effectively siphoned off."}, {"question": "What actions have been taken to address the scandal and prevent future occurrences?", "answer": "The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has clawed back the R1.5-million (and an additional R1.7-million from a related scheme) and preservation orders are in place for the acquired properties. Individuals like Ngwako Malatji resigned, and Makhudu Sefara is on special leave. To prevent future fraud, the new NLC board has frozen proactive funding and is rebuilding its application portal on a blockchain ledger, though parliamentary efforts to cap proactive grants and introduce public comment periods have stalled."}]