South Africa’s Lottery Commission fumbles nearly R1-billion, audit reveals
Auditor-General slams National Lotteries Commission for weak controls, chronic vacancies and unfulfilled promises.
South Africa.- South Africa’s National Lotteries Commission (NLC) is making headlines for leaving nearly R1-billion ($53m) in vital grant funding untouched while communities cry out for support.
In a scathing report for the 2023/24 financial year, the Auditor-General (AG) handed the NLC a qualified audit opinion, citing systematic dysfunction, broken oversight and chronic underperformance. Most damning was R957-million ($50.7m) in grant funding left on the table while NGOs, charities and communities waited in vain.
At a briefing to Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) this week, AG officials didn’t mince words. Grant delays, they said, were fuelled by unfilled vacancies, according to a GroundUp report.
With only one functioning committee covering all sectors from sports to charities, the bottleneck became inevitable.
“There have been a number of years where the NLC has received qualified opinions,” said Corne Myburgh, AG business unit leader.
“For the last two years specifically, it was more in relation to the grants management.”
Three main irregularities
Among the three material irregularities flagged were the phantom Motheo Sports Complex in Soweto, where R6-million ($318,000) disappeared with no facility delivered; the eDumbe Old Age Home in KwaZulu-Natal, where R26-million ($1.38m) was squandered on an abandoned build; and an additional R13-million ($690,000) paid to a professional service provider that delivered absolutely nothing.
Worryingly, grants were sometimes approved without signed agreements. Assets were sold off to staff before being offered to nonprofits, as the law requires. And high-level vacancies, including the Chief Operating Officer role, unfilled since August 2022, crippled the organisation’s ability to function.
Despite leadership changes since 2022 and a new commissioner in 2023, the NLC’s road to redemption is proving steep. The AG’s message is clear: without urgent reform and tighter controls, public trust and public funds will remain at risk.
