{"id":18164,"date":"2026-02-16T11:39:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T14:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=18164"},"modified":"2026-04-19T08:57:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T11:57:11","slug":"nlc-under-scrutiny-as-r65m-for-stalled-projects-shows-little-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/nlc-under-scrutiny-as-r65m-for-stalled-projects-shows-little-progress","title":{"rendered":"NLC under scrutiny as R65m for stalled projects shows little progress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The allocation, announced by the regulator in October 2022, aimed to revive 13 stalled facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

South Africa.- South Africa\u2019s National Lotteries Commission (NLC) <\/strong>is under fresh scrutiny after R65m<\/strong> (\u20ac3.3m) allocated over three years ago to complete lottery-funded infrastructure has failed to produce visible progress at most sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The allocation, announced by the regulator in October 2022<\/strong>, aimed to revive 13 stalled facilities<\/strong>, including old-age homes, sports venues and rehabilitation centres that had been left incomplete after earlier grants were allegedly looted or misdirected. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the NLC has confirmed that none of the funds earmarked for the intervention have been released for construction at the targeted projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only one of the developments, the Hlayisani Centre of Hope in Kabokweni, Mpumalanga<\/strong>, is operating for its intended purpose. The gender-based violence and disability centre received almost R27.7m <\/strong>(\u20ac1.4m) in lottery funding between 2019 and 2021<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elsewhere, infrastructure funded by gambling revenue remains unused or repurposed for unrelated activities. A R27.5m <\/strong>(\u20ac1.4m) facility in Thaba Nchu, Free State<\/strong>, is being utilised as student accommodation, prompting the commission to take legal steps to halt what it calls unauthorised commercial use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An incomplete old-age home in northern KwaZulu-Natal<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Commission maintains that future spending will depend on assessments under a newly formed Community Infrastructure Reparations Process.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> SIU blocks pension payout to former NLC official over R31 million lottery grant scandal<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The allocation, announced by the regulator in October 2022, aimed to revive 13 stalled facilities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2395,"featured_media":17212,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The South African National Lotteries Commission (NLC) faces renewed scrutiny over R65m allocated in October 2022 to revive 13 stalled lottery-funded infrastructure projects. Despite the allocation, most sites show no visible progress, with funds not released for construction and some existing facilities being misused, prompting legal action by the NLC. Future spending is contingent on assessments by engineering service providers and outcomes of Special Investigating Unit (SIU) investigations, highlighting significant governance and compliance failures.","focusai_entities":"National Lotteries Commission (NLC), Hlayisani Centre of Hope, Special Investigating Unit (SIU)","focusai_location":"South Africa, Kabokweni, Mpumalanga, Thaba Nchu, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.7), payments_fraud_aml (0.7), investor_analyst (0.8), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"NLC Governance Impact","query":"What specific enhancements to the NLC's governance frameworks and internal controls are being implemented to prevent future misdirection of allocated funds and ensure project completion?"},{"label":"Regulatory Enforcement Scope","query":"How will the Special Investigating Unit's findings influence the NLC's regulatory enforcement powers and the potential for punitive actions against responsible parties for the stalled projects and misuse of facilities?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60023,60011],"tags":[74],"class_list":["post-18164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-news","category-south-africa","tag-lottery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2395"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18164"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18201,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18164\/revisions\/18201"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}