NYDA witchhunt to find media ‘leakers’

The scandal-prone National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) plans to hire forensic investigators to smoke out staff who leak information, in what insiders say signals the start of a purge.

The agency has launched a process to procure specialists to pry into employees’ e-mails and phones.

The agency’s executive chair Sunshine Myende, who doubles as an ANC Youth League national executive committee member, courted controversy earlier this year when reports emerged that she and her entourage spent R1m on a trip to New York in September last year.

The no-expenses-spared trip saw Myende and her team, which included her deputy Bonga Makhanya, flying business class and staying at the high-end Hyatt Grand Central Hotel while attending events around the opening of the annual UN General Assembly session.

The NYDA has rejected criticism of the expenditure and has received the support of its minister, Sindi Chikunga. Chikunga, minister in the Presidency for youth, women & people with disabilities, led the delegation to New York of which the NYDA was part.

Nevertheless, the agency now appears to have embarked on a taxpayer-sponsored witchhunt to punish whoever shared details of the trip with the media, and to uncover the source of earlier embarrassing media leaks.

Whichever investigators are hired will, among other things, also look into a leak about the agency’s R6.2m-a-year head office in the plush suburb of Sunninghill, which the Sunday Times reported earlier this year has been declared unsafe in two separate risk assessments.

The NYDA request for quotation says its internal audit and risk management unit conducted a preliminary assessment into the leaks “which confirmed that the matter is both credible and high-risk, warranting a full-scale forensic investigation”.

Given the technical complexity, potential involvement of internal and/or external individuals, and the need for independence, objectivity, and legal defensibility, the NYDA requires the services of a qualified and experienced digital forensic investigation firm

—  NYDA request for quotation

“Given the technical complexity, potential involvement of internal and/or external individuals, and the need for independence, objectivity, and legal defensibility, the NYDA requires the services of a qualified and experienced digital forensic investigation firm (cyber/forensic investigator).”

The agency has fast-tracked the procurement process, publishing the request for quotation on Thursday and setting a deadline of Tuesday this week for responses. It gives service providers one month from their appointment to finish their work.

The investigators are asked to focus on the months since July 2025. According to the tender document, which the Sunday Times has seen, the investigators must identify the source, methods and extent of the information leaks.

“[Investigations must] establish whether there has been any unauthorised dissemination of sensitive organisational information; determine whether the leakage is due to internal misconduct, negligence, system vulnerabilities, or external intrusion [and] establish whether there is prima facie evidence of misconduct, fraud, cybercrime, or governance breaches,” the document reads.

In a move that has caused panic in the organisation, investigators will be allowed to access e-mail communications and develop a “geospatial mapping chart showing analysed e-mail leakage or information/document dissemination to external parties”.

Geospatial mapping in digital forensics is the process of extracting, analysing and visualising location-based data from digital devices (such as smartphones and GPS trackers) and mapping it onto geographic locations. It can be used to track people’s movements and establish timelines.

Investigators will also be allowed to trace unauthorised data access, extraction or transmission. Agency staff will also be subjected to interviews by investigators to “correlate testimonial evidence with digital forensic findings”.

The final report, according to the NYDA’s requirements, must provide guidance on disciplinary processes, criminal referrals, civil recovery options and data protection measures.

Asked why it was taking such radical measures and why it thought the leaked information was so damaging to its operations, the NYDA said in an e-mail that it was committed to “the highest standards of governance and accountability, and, as part of that commitment, it is following its established internal processes to thoroughly investigate any unauthorised disclosures and uncover any wrongdoing that may have occurred”.

“All steps are taken lawfully, with due regard for employees’ rights and on the basis of sound legal guidance, and any suggestion that these processes are designed to victimise staff is without foundation,” it said.

“The protection of public funds and the integrity of confidential information are matters of public interest, and the organisation will not compromise ongoing internal reviews by commenting on operational specifics. The organisation remains confident that every measure adopted is proportionate, fair, and necessary to safeguard the institution.”

The portfolio committee on women, youth & persons with disabilities last month slammed what it said was a disconnect between the spending priorities of the agency and the urgent needs of the youth. It urged the NYDA to channel resources towards high-impact, youth-centred programmes.