The National Lotteries Commission (NLC) has committed to rebuilding the trust lost due to corruption within its grant funding department. The NLC has been plagued by corruption, with some officials found to have benefitted from grants meant for community projects. As a result, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) was brought in to investigate misconduct within the NLC.
In February, the unit revealed that the government and NLC had lost about R1.4 billion to corruption. ALSO READ: Lotto heist: SIU almost done with second phase of R1.
4bn NLC corruption probe The SIU has initiated at least 10 criminal referrals against NLC officials, non-profit organisations and companies which unduly benefitted from the commission. Additionally, the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) has secured preservations in the NLC cases to recover funds used to buy properties for the benefit of employees and members of NPOs who had applied for grants. These include actor Terry Pheto, whose house was auctioned, and musician Arthur Mafokate.
‘Things went wrong in NLC’ During a media briefing on Tuesday, NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz said the commission was working to improve governance and compliance. “We have been able to ensure that our internal audit unit is fully capacitated with the right skills. We have also implemented an internal governance framework which governs how we work and also signed code of conducts,” said Scholtz.
ALSO READ: Musician Arthur Mafokate fails to halt SIU seizure of luxury gue.