The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has secured a preservation order to freeze R2.7 million held by Tintswalo Chauke, the ex-wife of businessman Alfred Sigudla. The funds form part of a divorce settlement and are alleged to be the proceeds of money stolen from a National Lotteries Commission (NLC) grant intended for community development.
According to the SIU, Sigudla’s non-profit organisation, the South African Youth Movement, received R23 million in funding from the NLC for the construction of old age homes in KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State. Investigators allege that a portion of this money was diverted to purchase two luxury estate properties.
One of these properties, located in Centurion, was later transferred to Tintswalo Chauke as part of her divorce settlement from Sigudla. The SIU moved to preserve the R2.7 million value of that settlement, prohibiting Chauke from accessing or transferring the funds pending the finalisation of the unit’s investigations.
SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago provided further context, stating this case is part of a wide-ranging probe into grand funding corruption at the NLC. He revealed the unit is investigating over 50 such transactions involving substantial sums.
“This is a small portion of the figure,” Kganyago said, referencing other high-value assets the SIU has seized, including a house valued at over R30 million linked to a former NLC chairperson and a farm in Mpumalanga.
Kganyago explained the SIU’s primary goal is to recover stolen funds and ensure they are used for their original purpose. “We take it back to the institution where the money was stolen from and that money must then be used for what it was initially intended for,” he stated.
The spokesperson attributed the widespread fraud to collusion between NLC officials and grant recipients. “It was just collusion between a lot of officials within the National Lottery Commission and the people that were involved. Therefore, no work was done but the money was paid,” Kganyago said.
He confirmed that criminal cases have been handed over to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) for prosecution, as collusion and fraud constitute criminal offences. The NLC has also undertaken internal disciplinary processes against implicated officials who remain in its employ.
The preservation order against Chauke’s funds is an interim measure as the SIU continues its work to claw back an estimated hundreds of millions of rand siphoned from NLC grants meant to benefit vulnerable communities.