On 28 July 2020, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Ebrahim Patel, tabled the following National Lotteries Commission’s (NLC) lists of grant beneficiaries (See attached):
- 2017-2018 List of Funded Projects
- 2018-2019 List of Funded Projects
- Covid-19 Relief Funded Projects
The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes this step by the Minister and his acknowledgement that “… the NLC accounts must be open and transparent and that the public is entitled to know the beneficiaries of the monies that the NLC manages on behalf of the people”.
However, if it was not for the robust action taken by the DA in Parliament and the efforts of the media to shine a spotlight into the parlous state of affairs at the NLC – this may not have materialised.
Over the next few days we will take the time to study the lists received by the NLC to ensure that no beneficiaries and the amounts disbursed to them have been redacted or omitted in any way.
The DA still remains resolute in its belief that the NLC has a committed a crime by having withheld this information from the public domain for such a long period of time.
The NLC’s conduct in this matter has reinforced the impression that it is beset by a crisis of leadership.
Therefore, the DA reiterates its call on Minister Patel to fire the chairperson, commissioner and the NLC’s entire board with immediate effect.
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