DA welcomes Lotto probe
2012-02-12 22:58
Johannesburg - A probe by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela into the national lotteries board (NLB) will be the first step in ensuring lottery funds are used for poverty alleviation, the Democratic Alliance said on Sunday.
"In November last year the DA requested that the public protector investigate the granting of lottery money to politically connected organisations, while millions earmarked for deserving charities went unspent," DA spokesperson Wilmot James said in a statement.
The NLB investigation had been delayed by financial constraints, Madonsela's spokesperson Kgalalebo Msibi said.
The Sunday Independent reported that Madonsela's office was also awaiting treasury funding for investigators to help with other complex cases.
Complaints against the NLB relate to allegations of corruption, nepotism and funding withdrawal.
This week, the non-governmental organisation, Molteno Language and Literacy Institute, filed papers against the NLB over R20.4m funding the NLB withdrew a month after granting it.
A few days later, the NLB's lawyers announced that it would honour the grant in an out-of-court settlement.
The Sunday Independent reported that in July, the arts distribution agency sent Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies a memorandum voicing concern over a jurisdiction overlap between it and the NLB.
Davies granted the NLB powers to act as an interim distributing agency after the term of office of the previous one ended on July 9.
James said he would write to Madonsela to ask that her office specifically investigate grants to African National Congress-alligned bodies and organisations linked to NLB officials.
- SAPA