The National Lotteries Commission (NLC) has given the assurance that it has sufficient funds to continue funding civil society organisations and is hopeful there will be no temporary halt in the sale of national lottery tickets until a new lottery operator is appointed.
The licence of operator Ithuba expires in May but trade, industry & competition minister Parks Tau announced last month that he would not name a preferred bidder for the fourth licence as he had to ensure that no political party or political party office bearers had a financial interest in the applicants.
Business Day has previously reported on the proximity of the front runners in the bidding process to the ANC.
Tau’s announcement gave rise to concerns by civil society organisations that there would be a delay in their receiving much-needed funds.
In a statement on Thursday the NLC said there was a contingency plan in place to ensure the funding to good causes continued.
According to GroundUp, the NLC has reserves of R3.9bn to continue paying qualifying organisations in the event that there is an interruption in the sale of lottery tickets.
“The board can reassure the public that the NLC has sufficient reserves to ensure the continued provision of funds to support worthy good causes.
“Furthermore, the NLC wishes to inform its stakeholders that adjudication of applications under the 2023/24 call for applications has been concluded. This is adjudication for applications that were received between May and August 2023.”
The board anticipated that all applicants would receive correspondence on the outcome of their application by the end of this month.
The NLC gave a breakdown of how R1.46bn of the funds available for the 2023/24 call for applications had been distributed.
Of this, R781.8m had been distributed to the charities sector. A total of 60% of this amount had been directed towards protecting vulnerable groups through programmes addressing poverty, abuse and disability; 25% supported early-childhood development; 1% was allocated for enhanced food security; and 6% funded animal welfare initiatives, ensuring the care and safety of animals in need.
Allocations to organisations in the arts, culture and national heritage sector totalled R309m, with 77% allocated to support arts, culture and cultural heritage development; 12% for protecting historical sites and promoting environmental awareness; and 11% on fostering youth participation in cultural activities.
The sport and recreation sector received R332.4m, of which 52% was allocated to school sports development and a grant of R39.3m was made to SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee for Team SA to participate in the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
In November 2024 the NLC issued a new call for applications for 2024/25, which is processed entirely online. It said that all organisations that did not qualify for funding in the 2023/24 cycle could apply for funding before the closing date of February 28.
In support of the transition to an online environment, the NLC website will be zero-rated from the end of January 2025 to ensure that applicants do not pay for data when applying for funding on the NLC’s website.
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