Man behind failed Soweto sports centre has fingers in several Lottery pies

Within days of the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) paying a nonprofit organisation (NPO) R3 million of a multimillion-rand grant to build a sports facility in Soweto, money started pouring out of the organisation’s bank account.

Two payments totalling R750 000 were paid to a private company belonging to Petrus Sedibe, who played a key role in the failed project. GroundUp previously reported how the NLC approved a grant of R9 million in 2021, for Motheo Sports and Entertainment Foundation to build a “sports complex” in Protea Glen, Soweto.

Two years later, the still-undeveloped site is being used as a dumping ground. The Gauteng department of education says Motheo was refused permission to develop the sports facility on the property as it is earmarked for a new school.

Two days after the NLC paid the R3 million into Motheo’s account, the NPO made two payments, one for R500 000 and another for R250 000, to PSKO, a private company of which Sedibe is the sole director, according to Companies and Intellectual Property Commission records.

Withdrawals

Several purchases that appear to have nothing to do with the funded project were also made using a Motheo FNB bank card. Cash withdrawals ranging from R1 000 to R5 000 were made at ATMs in the days that followed. On 11 June, Motheo paid R2 000 to Hi-Q, a tyre, exhaust and parts franchise.

The next day, there were purchases of R2 200 from S&K Legends, a clothing shop specialising in “limited edition premium sportswear, sneakers and apparel”, and R752 was paid to dry-cleaning company Levingers.

A R100 000 cash withdrawal was also made at FNB Southgate Mall. Sedibe, a Soweto resident, identified himself either as Motheo’s “chairperson” or as its “deputy secretary” in correspondence relating to the grant. GroundUp has identified several other grants for NPOs of which Sedibe is an office bearer or where he assisted with applications for NLC grant funding, totalling over R12.6 million.

READ MORE: NLC looks to reinstate its credibility

R3 million

Two tranches of R3 million of the R9 million grant were paid to Motheo by the NLC. The second was paid even though a site inspection would have shown no work had been done.

Things changed at the NLC after a new board and commissioner were appointed. Unlike the previous board, which obstructed Special Investigating Unit (SIU) investigations, their replacements cooperated.

SIU

SIU head Andy Mothibi told parliament last year that the unit was investigating dodgy grants worth over R1.4 billion. Motheo’s grant for the Soweto sports facility was flagged when an NLC monitoring and evaluation team conducted a site visit in January, and found an empty field and no sign that any of the work funded by the Lottery had begun.

The NLC stopped payment of the final R3 million tranche after its requests for Motheo to submit progress reports were ignored.

Steps have been taken to recover the R6 million already paid out. The NLC has confirmed that a complaint of intimidation was laid with police after two of its staff investigating the Motheo grant were threatened.

Sedibe initially spoke freely to GroundUp and admitted he had assisted some organisations to apply for Lottery funding, but he failed to answer detailed written questions e-mailed to him.

After receiving the questions, Sedibe demanded GroundUp “prove” how it obtained its information, saying he would “then gladly respond” to our questions. He also demanded “proof that you followed the right process to A site visit revealed an empty field, no sign of any work.

Sedibe accused one of GroundUp’s reporters of being “racist” and having “no respect for black people”, and threatened to “expose” him. GroundUp subsequently received a letter from Sedibe’s lawyers claiming its reporters were “harassing” him.

It said Sedibe was unable to “respond to matters which are under investigation by SIU. We kindly request you to wait for the outcome of the investigation so that you can obtain the side of the story of our client”.

Since GroundUp’s initial report on the sports complex, it has come to light that the property is held by the Gauteng department of infrastructure development. The Gauteng department of education (GDE) said it was approached by Motheo last year for permission to build the facility.

Sedibe claims to have held several meetings with the GDE and sent GroundUp a memorandum of understanding – a copy of a site usage and maintenance agreement which he said granted Motheo permission to build the sports facility. The document was signed by Sedibe in his capacity as “chairperson” of Motheo, but not by any GDE representatives.

After GroundUp sent a copy of the document to the Gauteng education department, its spokesperson, Steve Mabona, said it had informed Motheo in April, two years after the NLC paid out R6 million, that the land was not available because there were plans to build a school on the property.

GroundUp has also seen a letter from then ward 135 councillor Elliot Sithole granting Motheo “permission” to build the sports complex on the empty property. The two contact numbers listed on the letter both belong to Sedibe, according to Trucaller.

The e-mail address has been disabled. Questions sent to Sithole via SMS were not answered.

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