Welcome breakthrough in lotteries scandal probe

The National Lotteries Commission (NLC) has long been a source of scandal that reflects poorly on its primary purpose. The holders of tickets should be able to take it for granted that the purchase price goes in large part to helping good causes.

For close to a decade the NLC has been refashioned as a dispenser of largesse. By a tweak in the law it has had access to about R150m to disburse on “proactive funding’’.

Originally envisaged as a mechanism to disburse funds to those not in a position to request them, this money has allegedly become a slush fund for powerful figures on the NLC.

This week, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) told parliament’s trade & industry committee that NLC officials allegedly misappropriated millions to pay school fees for their children, set up farming enterprises and buy expensive cars. The SIU investigation found that a nonprofit organisation was “hijacked’’ and R23m paid into it.

Funds allocated for the construction of an old-age home in Mpumalanga were diverted to individuals connected to the NLC, the report alleged.

Attorneys connected to NLC officials helped launder money, including R2.5m transferred to the account of the conveyancing attorney of a former board member, and R2.2m to pay off a loan.

Up to 50 cases of corruption and misappropriation of funds are being investigated. The SIU has approached the Special Tribunal seeking a preservation order to freeze the assets of a beneficiary of NLC grant funding.

The breakthrough comes after years of reports by the grassroots news organisation GroundUp, whose work would appear to be vindicated.

It is also to be welcomed that parliament is taking a closer look and doing its job. The NLC has acted with apparent impunity for too long, and even took minister Ebrahim Patel to court to deter him from initiating a forensic investigation into its finances.