Lottery’s shady grants need probe

Finally, there is movement from Minister of Trade and Industry Ebrahim Patel on a dodgy R27.5 million National Lottery grant. Evidence gathered by forensic investigators appointed by Patel has been handed to the police.

The evidence covers what happened to lottery funds given to Denzhe Primary Care to build a drug rehabilitation centre near Pretoria. The centre was never completed and more than R20 million is unaccounted for.

These and other stories questioning things happening at the National Lotteries Commission have been in the media, including this newspaper, for more than a year … and have resulted in various legal threats against journalists and organisations.

All of these allegations need to be thoroughly investigated and, if necessary, prosecutions of the people involved must be mounted. There can be no resort to claims of confidentiality on these matters. This is public money – coming from those who buy lottery tickets – and it must be fully accounted for and distributed in a fair manner.

A national lottery offers not only a chance for people to win their way to a better life, it also offers a way for money to be channelled to worthy causes. It must not be allowed to be captured in any way.

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