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A recent parliamentary question submitted by the Democratic Alliance (DA) uncovered the fact that the National Lotteries Board (NLB) had granted R1 million to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) to help fund the union federation’s 25th birthday celebrations. At the time, I wrote a letter to the Auditor General asking that the matter be investigated, and have received confirmation that the Auditor General will further investigate the issue. The letter and the accompanying reply can be read here.

Since then, the Chairman of the NLB, Professor Alfred Nevhutanda, has come out in defence of the payout to COSATU. Prof Nevhutanda confirmed that the NLB had made similar payments to other unions, and suggested that there was nothing wrong with such funds being granted as they fell under the “miscellaneous” category in the NLB’s payout guidelines. The fact that National Lottery money was used to fund an ANC alliance event, while a number of charities and sports organisations are unable to access lottery funding, is improper and unacceptable. The payout to COSATU amounts to the NLB funding political activity, and should never have been allowed to happen.

This is also not the first time that the NLB has been used by the ANC and its affiliates as a party-political slush fund. At the end of last year, R40 million was granted to the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) to host an ANC Youth League (ANCYL) totalitarian youth conference.

In light of this state of affairs, the DA will submit a proposal for a Private Member’s Bill to the Speaker of Parliament for consideration. The bill will aim to outlaw payouts by the NLB to any organisations other than bona fide charitable, sporting or cultural organisations and will also aim to bring greater transparency to the operations of the NLB in order to ensure that conflicts of interest are not able to occur. The proposal motivating the need for such legislation can be read here. The DA is convinced that this piece of legislation is vitally important in order to maintain the credibility and integrity of our National Lottery and the NLB, and to ensure that Lottery funds go where they are most needed. The proceeds of the National Lottery were originally intended to go towards the improvement of our people’s lives, and the DA is proposing this bill to ensure that these proceeds are indeed used to achieve that outcome.