NLC under scrutiny as R65m for stalled projects shows little progress
The allocation, announced by the regulator in October 2022, aimed to revive 13 stalled facilities.
South Africa.- South Africa’s National Lotteries Commission (NLC) is under fresh scrutiny after R65m (€3.3m) allocated over three years ago to complete lottery-funded infrastructure has failed to produce visible progress at most sites.
The allocation, announced by the regulator in October 2022, aimed to revive 13 stalled facilities, including old-age homes, sports venues and rehabilitation centres that had been left incomplete after earlier grants were allegedly looted or misdirected.
However, the NLC has confirmed that none of the funds earmarked for the intervention have been released for construction at the targeted projects.
Only one of the developments, the Hlayisani Centre of Hope in Kabokweni, Mpumalanga, is operating for its intended purpose. The gender-based violence and disability centre received almost R27.7m (€1.4m) in lottery funding between 2019 and 2021.
Elsewhere, infrastructure funded by gambling revenue remains unused or repurposed for unrelated activities. A R27.5m (€1.4m) facility in Thaba Nchu, Free State, is being utilised as student accommodation, prompting the commission to take legal steps to halt what it calls unauthorised commercial use.
An incomplete old-age home in northern KwaZulu-Natal has been turned into a storeroom by a contractor, a situation the NLC said it would also challenge through legal channels after becoming aware of it.
The Commission maintains that future spending will depend on assessments under a newly formed Community Infrastructure Reparations Process.
According to the NLC, a panel of multidisciplinary engineering service providers has been appointed to determine technical feasibility and community value before any funds are released, with decisions further tied to the outcome of investigations by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).
On the ground, many properties continue to fall into disrepair. In several provinces, partially completed buildings have been stripped of fittings or damaged by exposure, while communities wait for clarity on whether projects will be revived, repurposed or abandoned.
