Lionel October appointed acting commissioner of National Lotteries Commission

The National Lotteries Commission has appointed Lionel October as the Acting Commissioner of the organisation from 1 September.

This follows the resignation of the previous commissioner Thabang Mampane just weeks, before her term expired at the end of September.

She served as commissioner of the Lottery for almost ten years with massive corruption occurred during her term after it was revealed that lottery funding meant to build a Limpopo school razed by fire during a protest had been used to pay for her luxury home in a golf estate.

ALSO READ: NLC commissioner resigns ‘with immediate effect’

In a statement, the National Lotteries Commission said October has been appointed in consultation with Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Ebrahim Patel, to ensure that it operates efficiently and effectively.

“The board trusts that Mr October will execute all responsibilities in line with the related statutory responsibilities and is confident that the staff of the commission will support Mr October in the efficient and effective management of the operations of the commission.

“The appointment of Mr October coincides with the commencement date of chairperson, Prof Barney Pityana,” the statement said.

October was the previous director-general of the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC).

Last week, the embattled National Lotteries Commission chief operations officer Phillemon Letwaba also resigned with immediate effect, just weeks before he was due to appear before a disciplinary hearing to answer charges of abusing his position to enrich himself and his family.

Letwaba has been at the heart of many GroundUp stories on corruption at the NLC over the past few years, including several Lottery-funded projects in Kuruman, this one involving a multimillion-rand drug rehabilitation centre in Pretoria, and a R4.8-million grant to a non-profit where his wife was one of the directors.

Meanwhile, South Africa’s national lottery operator Ithuba Holdings, has been implicated in the multi-million-rand Digital Vibes tender scandal.

Revelations by Daily Maverick’s Scorpio have shown that money from an irregular R150 million tender issued by the National Health Department was laundered to entities owned by associates of former health minister Zweli Mkhize.

ALSO READ: Lotto operator Ithuba Holdings implicated in Digital Vibes scandal