For years, Yolisa Yako dreamed of buying a piece of land for her non-profit organization, the Make Me Movement (MMM), to create a retreat and safe space for abuse victims. Unfortunately, her dream turned into a nightmare when a woman who had received counseling from MMM offered to help Yako apply for a grant from the National Lottery Commission (NLC).
Instead of assistance, Yako’s organization was hijacked in 2018, and nearly R18 million was fraudulently applied for from the NLC under the pretense of funding a “cycling development project in rural areas.” Years later, Yako’s dream lies in tatters, and her organization has collapsed.
Recently, action has finally been taken against some individuals accused of siphoning millions from the MMM grant. The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) obtained a preservation order allowing them to freeze a smallholding in Centurion, purchased with misappropriated funds from the MMM grant.
The main beneficiaries of these funds include Collin Tshisimba, his partner Fulufhelo Promise Kharivhe, and Jacob Ramuhashi, who falsely claimed to be the director of MMM in the grant application. They are among 16 different people and entities named in the order.
Yako recounted that in 2017, she was approached by Sibongile Mokhokha, a beneficiary of MMM’s program for victims of gender-based violence (GBV). Mokhokha praised their work and claimed to know people at the NLC who could help secure funding. Yako, eager for support, provided Mokhokha with several documents, including copies of her ID and MMM’s registration certificate.
However, Mokhokha soon went silent, blocking Yako’s number after warning her that Ramuhashi was “a dangerous man.” Later, Ramuhashi requested a meeting at Yako’s home, prompting her to flee to her village out of fear for her safety. She later learned about the funding awarded to her organization when contacted by a news media in 2020.
The fraudulent application for R17.8 million was submitted to the NLC on July 7, 2018, and approved the next day under a discredited proactive funding mechanism. Ramuhashi signed documents as MMM’s director, despite never being part of the organization, as confirmed by the Department of Social Development.
MMM was registered in the Western Cape, but the supposed cycling project was based in Limpopo. The application included fraudulent financial statements prepared by Dzata Accountants, which the SIU flagged as a firm involved in defrauding the NLC.
The first tranche of R14.2 million was paid into a Nedbank account in MMM’s name on July 27, 2018, followed by a second tranche of R3.6 million on January 23, 2019, despite no work being done on the project. Meanwhile, Yako’s actual MMM account, managed at FNB, received no funding, leading her to close the account in October 2018 to avoid bank charges.
Funds from the fraudulent Nedbank account were quickly funneled elsewhere. The SIU found that R3 million was transferred to Thwala Front CC, controlled by Kharivhe, and R1 million to Black Tshisimba (Pty) Ltd, one of Tshisimba’s companies. Additional amounts were paid to property conveyancers and Athletics SA.
Both Thwala and Black Tshisimba have since been deregistered for failing to submit annual returns. Another R1 million was paid to Mountain Village Recreation Centre, directed by Ramuhashi, which allegedly contributed to a luxury mansion for former NLC chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda.
Between August and September 2018, a further R4.1 million was transferred to Thwala Front, and R2 million went to Ndavha Management, another of Tshisimba’s companies. By November 23, 2018, Tshisimba signed a purchase agreement for the now-frozen property in Centurion, with R2.5 million paid to the conveyancers.
A R150,198 property transfer fee was also paid by another hijacked non-profit organization, Uprising Youth Development, which had received a R5.5 million lottery grant for a sports project that never materialized.
As of now, the fraudulent MMM Nedbank account had only R1,371 left of the millions paid by the NLC for the cycling project.
This was not the first time Kharivhe, Tshisimba, and Ramuhashi were involved in dubious lottery grants. A previous R9.5 million grant for “cycling development in Limpopo” was also misappropriated. The SIU has identified Tshisimba and Kharivhe as key players in the looting of the NLC.
The smallholding in Centurion is the seventh property bought with lottery funds linked to the couple, which the courts have frozen. Investigations into 19 cases involving questionable lottery grants have been handed over to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). So far, only one case has resulted in a prosecution unrelated to the MMM grant.
