President of South Africa calls for investigation into the National Lottery Commission

On the 20th October Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, agreed to sign a proclamation allowing the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to investigate alleged corruption happening at the National Lotteries Commission (NLC). This came into effect on Friday 6th November.

There have been several reports of ongoing corruption at the National Lotteries Commission (NLC). After calls for the government to take action had intensified within the public, the President authorized the SIU to look into fears of corruption, fraud and maladministration. 

It is noted that the offence the proclamation oversees will cover those that “took place between 1 January 2014 and the date of publication of this Proclamation, or which took place prior to 1 January 2014”. Other offence will be covered after the date of its publication if they are deemed relevant.  

According to Daily Maverick, “the decision by Ramaphosa to involve the SIU comes in the wake of ongoing reporting of corruption involving Lottery grants running into hundreds of millions of rand, mounting political pressure and calls by civil society for government to take action.” 

Ramaphosa has enlisted the SIU to uncover the underlying situation by investigating a host of issues such as: 

1. Unlawful or improper conduct by any individual resulting in serious harm to public interest. 
2. Unlawful use of public money or property 
3. Improper or unlawful conduct on behalf of employees of the NLC  

The SIU has been contracted to ensure recovery and prevent financial losses to the state caused by acts of corruption, fraud and maladministration. 

Corruption Watch’s head of legal and investigations, Karam Singh, welcomes this move saying “We are incredibly pleased to see a proclamation in the NLC matter. It is something we have tracked given the stories for many years of alleged corruption.” 

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