Commissioner’s overview

The past financial year heralded outstanding achievements for the organisation while also presenting unprecedented challenges for our business, stakeholders, and the world at large. The period kicked off with the NLC’s 20-year commemoration and ended with the global community on lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Truly, it is challenging to grasp the full reality of the time we are living in.

Supporting an enabling environment

The NLC exists to create a sustainable lotteries and sports pools sector, wherein participants will be protected against illegal operators and funds are generated through licensed operators to support the non-profit sector. Since inception, the NLC has licensed three operators, each to run the National Lottery and Sports Pools, with the NLC ensuring, among others, that proceeds from the National Lottery intended for good causes are maximised while safeguarding all lottery participants.

We remain mindful of the advent of 4IR, which has only been accelerated by the pandemic – acknowledging both its benefits and challenges. While the lottery industry remains competitive, local lotteries are finding themselves competing with foreign games due to the growing prevalence of these technological platforms. Online gaming is providing more options for consumers but also threatens the revenue generated by traditional lottery operators.

While the global lottery industry endeavours to come to grips with these rapid changes, the NLC is driving innovation to curb the scourge of illegal lotteries. Where operators are found to be in contravention of the Lotteries Act, we aid them toward compliance.

It goes without saying that the regulatory activities of the NLC are the foundation for the secondary mandate of funding, and our regulatory approach is aimed at creating an enabling environment for existing and prospective lotteries and sport pools operators to grow the sector and maximise revenue generation for good causes.

Funding for impact

In a country plagued by poverty, unemployment and inequality, achieving the vision of the NLC is critical. Catalysing social upliftment remains at the forefront of our collective minds as we pursue the everyday efforts that culminate in large scale change.

During the financial year, the NLC was able to fund worthy causes amounting to R1.3 billion, across the sectors of Charities, Arts and Culture and Sport and Recreation. Food security and water preservation were areas that featured prominently during the year, including the funding of approximately R60 million to support micro-agricultural projects in six provinces, targeting women in rural areas. This, alongside projects aimed at restoring human dignity to thousands of children through sanitation projects in rural schools, in support of the Department of Basic Education.

Nkwabanzi Primary School in Vryheid, Northern KwaZulu-Natal, previously a mud school, was one such beneficiary of the NLC’s proactive funding programme, where funding ensured that brick and mortar infrastructure was erected, inclusive of an administration block, ablution facilities and a borehole. The school building was handed over to the community in July 2019.

Gender-based violence (GBV) is squarely in the national dialogue, as it should be. In the past year, we have funded various organisations that assist victims of GBV, including shelters where vulnerable women and children can find refuge.

Fundraising lotteries have grown in prominence, with more and more NPOs making use of the NLC’s support to raise their own funds. Our funding activities also produced 9 295 jobs in the period under review and impacted approximately 333 004 secondary beneficiaries.

In addition, our procurement strategy saw us spend R176 million towards designated groups. This is also an area where we are intentional about supporting businesses owned by black women, the black youth, and black people with disabilities. Through these endeavours, in addition to funding good causes, we ensure the vibrancy of the economies in which we operate.

The NLC adopts a developmental approach to regulation and funding, and our monitoring and evaluation teams conducted 3 011 site visits this year, not only to ensure the proper use of funds but to support beneficiaries and identify areas for further intervention and growth.

Outlook and appreciation

As the current National Lottery operator’s term will end in 2023, we have commenced with planning to ensure a seamless transition to the next operator.

The NLC is mindful that the future beckons, with questions on how technology and integration will impact the regulation of lotteries and how we generate revenue for good causes. Indeed, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has hastened the need to adapt to a new world order of sorts.

As we navigate these new realities, our commitment to the goals of the NDP remain, continuing in the pursuit of the mandate to protect lottery players and ensure a fair, transparent and safe environment for lotteries and sports pools to operate.

I wish to extend my gratitude to the staff of the NLC who have worked tirelessly to ensure we achieve our goals. To the Board and Exco, thank you for your fearless leadership in challenging times. And finally, to our shareholder and other stakeholders, thank you for your continued support.

Mrs TCC Mampane
Commissioner

National Lotteries Commission