The South African Roadies Association (SARA) has appealed to Parliament to intervene in its long-running dispute with the National Lotteries Commission (NLC), accusing the regulator of unlawfully delaying grant allocations and failing to comply with statutory requirements.
SARA chairperson Freddie Nyathela formally escalated the matter in a letter to Mzwandile Masina, chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Trade, Industry and Competition. In the letter, Nyathela alleges that the NLC has disregarded both the Lotteries Act and Section 195 of the South African Constitution, which requires public institutions to operate in a manner that is accountable, fair and transparent.
At the center of the dispute are claims that the NLC intentionally delays grant-making processes and imposes excessive regulatory requirements that prevent compliant, historically disadvantaged organizations from accessing funding. “SARA kindly requests the urgent intervention of the Portfolio Committee regarding the continuing unfortunate conduct of the NLC,” Nyathela wrote.
He further accused the commission of “gross dishonesty” in its written responses dated November 13, 2025, and May 29, 2026, alleging that it had misrepresented provisions contained in Part III of Regulation 2 and Part II of Regulation 3A. According to Nyathela, the commission’s actions appear to be an attempt to conceal what he described as a “corruption of due process” and a broader failure to comply with the legal framework governing lottery funding.
SARA also claims the NLC took nearly 10 months simply to issue the organization with a reference and project number. Nyathela argues that this exceeded the statutory 150-day period for adjudicating compliant funding applications. The association maintains that the delay violates Section 26 of the Lotteries Act No. 57 of 1997, which requires lottery funds to be distributed fairly and equitably to qualifying organizations in the arts, culture and heritage sectors.
The NLC has rejected SARA’s allegations. In a response dated May 6, NLC Provincial Manager Mzwandile Ngubane cited regulations governing the Procedure for Review of Decisions, arguing that while applicants may challenge administrative or procedural irregularities, they cannot request a formal review of the amount of funding awarded.
“The intention of the regulations is to preserve the discretion of the distributing agency in determining funding allocations,” Ngubane wrote, adding that complaints relating to approved funding amounts fall outside the scope of the review process. Nyathela dismissed the explanation, accusing the commission of deliberately misinterpreting the regulations to avoid accountability and justify what he described as ongoing constitutional and statutory non-compliance.
When approached for comment, NLC spokesperson Eric Thenga said he would first consult the commissioner before responding. Portfolio Committee spokesperson Faith Ndenze said she was awaiting feedback from committee chairperson Masina regarding the correspondence. Meanwhile, committee secretary Andre Hermans confirmed that SARA’s submission had been received and would be considered as part of the committee’s ongoing work and deliberations.
The dispute comes amid broader concerns over the administration of lottery grants in South Africa. The NLC’s efforts to verify applicants through the South African Revenue Service (SARS) and the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) have contributed to significant processing delays.
In 2025, the Department of Social Development warned that more than 200,000 of South Africa’s 280,000 registered non-profit organizations were at risk of deregistration because they had failed to meet basic reporting requirements, rendering them ineligible for lottery funding.
While many community organizations, including SARA, reported delayed or unsuccessful funding applications, the NLC also faced scrutiny from Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) over its failure to distribute hundreds of millions of rand earmarked for grants because of processing bottlenecks and governance vacancies.
The commission has also continued to deal with the fallout from a major corruption scandal involving approximately R2 billion in lottery grants that were allegedly diverted to luxury properties and fictitious projects linked to politically connected individuals and former executives. The scandal prompted investigations by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).
