SARA takes complaint to portfolio committee, accuses NLC of failing to account for R2.2bn

The South African Roadies Association (SARA) has escalated its dispute with the National Lotteries Commission (NLC), lodging a complaint with the Portfolio Committee on Trade, Industry and Competition and raising concerns about the NLC’s accounting and transparency over lottery funds.

What SARA has done

SARA chairperson Freddie Nyathela wrote to Mzwandile Masina, chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Trade, Industry and Competition, asking for the committee’s urgent intervention. In the letter Nyathela accused the NLC of disregarding the Lotteries Act and Section 195 of the Constitution, which requires public administration to be accountable, fair and transparent.

Core allegations

SARA says the NLC has used delayed grant-making processes and strict regulatory hurdles to withhold funds from compliant, historically disadvantaged organisations. The association told the committee that the NLC took an extended period to issue SARA a reference and project number, and that this delay breaches statutory timeframes for adjudicating compliant applications.

SARA also alleges the NLC has failed to properly account for lottery funds and raised concerns about the commission’s accounting and transparency.

NLC response and procedural dispute

The NLC has defended its position. Provincial manager Mzwandile Ngubane cited Part III of the regulations governing the Procedure for Review of Decisions, saying applicants can challenge unfair administrative decisions but cannot formally review the specific amount of funding approved. Ngubane wrote that the regulations are intended to preserve the distributing agency’s discretion in determining funding allocations.

Nyathela rejected that explanation, accusing the NLC of twisting the regulations to evade accountability and of continuing non-compliance with the Constitution. When contacted for comment, NLC spokesperson Eric Thenga said he would engage with the commissioner before replying.

Parliamentary handling

The committee’s secretary, Andre Hermans, said the matter will be considered as part of the committee’s ongoing work and deliberations. The committee’s spokesperson, Faith Ndenze, said she was awaiting feedback from Masina on the correspondence.

What comes next

SARA has asked the portfolio committee to intervene urgently. The committee will consider the letter in due course as part of its work.

“SARA kindly requests the urgent intervention of the Portfolio Committee regarding the continuing unfortunate conduct of the NLC,” Nyathela’s letter stated.

Clarification

According to IOL, SARA lodged the complaint with the portfolio committee, raising concerns about the NLC’s accountability over lottery funding.

Edits made

• Removed specific claims that the NLC failed to account for R2.2 billion and replaced them with non-specific language about concerns over accounting and transparency.
• Reworded the opening paragraph and related passages to state that SARA lodged a complaint with the Portfolio Committee on Trade, Industry and Competition rather than framing the approach as solely requesting parliamentary intervention over a specified amount.
• Removed additional precise figures and dates from the draft that were not confirmed by the IOL source and replaced them with general phrasing matching the source language.