Pityana resigns as board chair of National Lotteries Commission

Barney Pityana, chair of the National Lotteries Commission (NLC), has tendered his resignation with two years of his five-year term remaining.

Pityana informed Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau of his decision by letter, a source with direct knowledge of what transpired told GroundUp.

Listen/read: What’s next for the National Lottery? Pityana says reform is underway

The reason for his decision is unclear, but he informed colleagues at the NLC earlier this year of his intention to quit.

Pityana, who turned 80 earlier this month, was appointed in September 2022 after a fiercely contested political and legal battle that dragged on for almost two years.

He took over as NLC board chair at a time when the organisation was in turmoil, amidst ongoing revelations of widespread corruption and looting in which former board members and executives were implicated.

Under Pityana and Commissioner Jodi Scholtz — appointed a few months after him — along with a new board, the organisation has stabilised and introduced various measures to combat corruption.

Read:
Tau appoints ten new lottery grant assessors after year-long delay
NPA missing in action on lottery corruption

But the NLC is still struggling to mend the damage to its reputation after years of corruption, which worsened from about 2016, after the introduction of proactive funding, which allowed the NLC to identify and fund projects without requiring a grant application.

Proactive funding was at the heart of the looting of the lottery.

The Special Investigating Unit told parliament earlier this year that it was investigating dodgy projects worth at least R2 billion. Most of these were proactively funded.

Contested appointment

The post for a new NLC board chair to replace Alfred Nevhutanda, the scandal-ridden previous chair, was advertised in the Government Gazette on 4 September 2020, with an appointment date of 1 December 2020.

Although NLC board chairs are appointed for a maximum of ten years, Nevhutanda served an extra year after a behind-the-scenes battle with former TIC Minister Ebrahim Patel, which included him providing a legal opinion on why his term should be extended by a further year.

Less than three months after the chair post was advertised, it was scuttled by a legal opinion that questioned the lawfulness of the process followed.

The ongoing process was also marked by acrimony between the old board and Patel, with communications between them reduced to lawyers’ letters and official correspondence.

Read: Lottery bosses turned to State Security to investigate leaks

Patel told parliament that he had instructed lawyers to end the term of the previous board, just weeks before their tenure ended. He said the reason was that its members had “failed to ensure proper administration and good governance”.

But ultimately, he allowed the terms of three remaining board members to end on 31 March. He also appointed four new board members on one-year contracts, with a brief to root out corruption within the NLC.

It appeared the process was finally resolving, with parliament approving a shortlist of candidates: Pityana, Terry Tselane, a former deputy chair of the Independent Electoral Commission, and former NLC board member, Muthuhadini Madzivhandila, who had subsequently died.

Read: Ramaphosa strident on lottery probe

Parliamentary legal advisor Thiloshini Gangen told the TIC parliamentary committee that they had two options: add a third name to replace Madzivhandila or start the process from scratch. Starting from scratch would involve issuing a new call for applications for the post, interviewing the applicants and then drawing up a new shortlist to present to parliament.

The situation was rescued when the portfolio committee voted to submit a new shortlist, which included Pityana, to parliament. This list was finally approved, leading to Pityana’s appointment.

Tau’s spokesperson, Kaamil Alli, did not respond to questions about Pityana’s resignation.

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