National Lottery Commission’s anti-corruption efforts slow down grant funding
In the 2023/2024 financial year, the NLC received a total of 5,303 funding applications, but its distribution agency was only able to review 12 applications per day.
South Africa.- The National Lotteries Commission (NLC) has reported a significant underspending of its allocated budget for the 2023/24 financial year.
During a parliamentary session held on Tuesday, May 27, 2025, the NLC disclosed that it had underutilised its funds by nearly R1 billion (€49.3m) in the fiscal period, with R270 million (€13.3m) of that amount allocated to grants for good causes.
According to Jodi Scholtz, NLC Commissioner, the grant funding backlog was due to a shortage of personnel. The distribution agency, tasked with evaluating and approving grant applications, was severely understaffed, with three members instead of the required twelve.
In the 2023/2024 financial year, the NLC received a total of 5,303 funding applications; however, the distribution agency was only able to review 12 applications per day due to its limited capacity.
Scholtz said the agency needs at least nine members to function effectively, with Minister of Trade and Industry, Parks Tau, is working on appointing new members to fill the gaps.
In addition to the small workforce, some of the initiatives the NLC has introduced to curb corruption in its grant allocation process have limited its overall efficiency. For example, the commission now conducts site inspections for grant applications, a measure that has proven to be resource-intensive.
The NLC has also scrapped its ‘proactive funding’ model, which allowed the board to allocate funds to organisations in emergencies without a formal application process. In its place, the NLC has introduced the ‘research funding’ model, enabling emergency grants to be awarded to pre-approved organisations in crises.
The commission adopted these new measures amid allegations of financial mismanagement and exploitation of funds meant for charitable purposes under the previous leadership.
The new NLC leadership took over in 2023 and uncovered a list of more than 4,000 individuals who had violated the grant application process. However, according to Precious Mvulane, the NLC’s audit and risk committee chairperson, no action was taken to prevent entities linked to these individuals from receiving future funding.
Mvulane noted that the list was compiled on an Excel spreadsheet, which was largely ignored, and there was no system in place to monitor the individuals on it. The list has now been forwarded to the NLC’s internal forensic unit.
