• ACTis has raised one flag for the NLC and placed two under monitoring.
• The NLC is recovering from a prolonged period of fraud and corruption perpetrated by the previous Board and Executive Committee, with nearly R2bn in grant awards being flagged as potentially corrupt.
• The controversial award of the National Lottery licence is a major concern. This is compounded by the fact that the final decision on awarding the National Lottery licence rests with a politician – the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition – contrary to international best practice.
• The current leadership is implementing reforms aimed at long-term rehabilitation and strengthening defences against fraud and corruption. However, this is a long-term process, as evidenced by the ongoing repopulation of senior and professional positions and by the still-weak system of controls noted by the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA). Instituting additional, often manually implemented, reforms has slowed the NLC’s ability to process grant applications, with only 50% of applications adjudicated within 150 days in 2024/25 (against a target of 90%).
• The end of Chairperson Barney Pityana’s term is a concern, given that the institution is still in a vulnerable phase. Appointing King Tembinkosi Bonakele as his successor through an open process led by Parliament was encouraging, but developments should be monitored.