Outlook

The NLC has realised the impact and the looming changes as a result of 4IR. On the whole, governments will increasingly face pressure to change their current approach to public engagement and policymaking, as their central role of conducting policy diminishes, owing to new sources of competition and the redistribution and decentralisation of
power that new technologies make possible.

Given 4IR’s rapid pace of change and broad impacts, legislators and regulators are challenged to adapt at an unprecedented rate. The primary question regards how regulators and legislators can preserve the interest of the consumers and the public at large while continuing to support innovation and technological development. The consensus is that entities need to embrace agile governance, just as the private sector has increasingly adopted agile responses to software development.

For the NLC, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has hastened the need to adapt and respond to fast-paced technological change while meeting our stakeholders’
broader socio-economic needs. Online gaming remains a widening option for consumers, also threatening the revenue generated by traditional lottery operators. The NLC will look at innovative and agile solutions to creating a safer lotteries and sports pools industry.

As a regulator, the NLC continues to face challenges in the lotteries and sports pools industry that include conflicting legislation and different regulators for gambling, lotteries and sports pools, which creates ambiguity in regulation and a lack of enforcement powers to regulate lotteries effectively.

During the year under review, the NLC proactively reached out to provincial gambling boards to resolve conflict in interpreting legislation for provincial gambling boards and the NLC. Engagements with seven of the eight provincial gambling boards were positive, and the need for collaboration was accepted. The NLC Board and seven provincial gambling boards reached consensus on the following areas of collaboration:

Area of collaboration	Outcome
Curbing illegal lotteries and gambling	Conduct investigations to close down these illegal activities.
Education and awareness on our respective mandates	Joint implementation of participant protection, responsible play and responsible gambling initiatives in all provinces.
Online gambling	Policy engagement on the regulatory approach.
Licensing of lotteries and gambling	Due diligence to assess compliance with both lotteries and gambling legislation.
Alternative dispute resolution mechanisms	Used to reduce reliance on approaching courts for resolution of disputes.
Gambling Regulators Africa Forum	To be completed through the Commission’s Chairperson and Commissioner, joining the Chairperson’s and CEO’s forum for the national and provincial gambling boards.
Legislative drafting	Engagement on proposed legislative amendments at the drafting stage.
Research	Collaboration and sharing information on research findings to improve regulatory effort.
Protection of revenue	Identify threats to revenue generation from regulated activities and propose solutions.
Enforcement of lotteries and gambling legislations	Implement initiatives to effectively regulate lotteries and gambling and protect the public and licensed operators.
Information sharing	Sharing information on complaints relating to lotteries and gambling.

Progress on implementing these initiatives would be reported to the respective boards quarterly, and a MOU entered into with the respective provincial gambling boards. The NLC finalised and duly submitted to the Minister of the dtic its legislative review process intended to guide policymakers in ensuring that the NLC in terms of section 10 (f) of the Act, wherein the Board is required to advise the Minister on policy and legislative matters relating to the National Lottery and other lotteries. The review of the Act presented an opportunity to examine the relevance of the legislation and to assess whether the Act appropriately addresses all stakeholder needs, as well as the occasion to determine how it is applied in practice.

While the exercise entailed the general amendment of the Act, the following topics were identified to be critical:

–	The functions of the NLC vis-á-vis the composition of its Board.
–	Review of the Confidentiality and Restraint of Trade, as well as Conflict and Declaration of Interest provisions.
–	The legal status, control and management of DAs.
–	The legal basis of the proactive funding provisions.
–	Authority to grant a licence to operate the National Lottery in terms of section 13 of the Lotteries Act.
–	Powers of the Board (or lack thereof) to prohibit, withdraw or reduce specific grants.
–	Powers of the Board to impose the requirements and conditions of the National Lottery licence.
–	Powers and functions granted to the Board in the Lotteries Act weighed against the powers and functions of the Minister.
–	Contents of the licence conditions with reference to the Lotteries Act and whether the current licence agreement is compliant with the Lotteries Act.
–	Allocations made in terms of the NLDTF.
–	Enforcement powers of the NLC with reference to unlawful lotteries and sports pools.

The current National Lottery and sports pools operator’s term will end in 2023. The NLC must commence with planning timeously to ensure a seamless transition to the next operator by making a recommendation to the Minister on awarding the fourth licence. During the 2020/21 financial year, the focus will be on concluding engagements to inform our fourth National Lottery and sports pools licencing strategy; completing analysis of the legislative implications to inform the strategy; developing the strategy based on these inputs; and, finally, tabling the strategy for Board approval in the final quarter of the year.

The NLC will continue to drive National Lottery and sports pools participant protection through the implementation of the approved participant protection strategy.

In terms of the NLC’s grant funding mandate, we will continue to provide education and awareness, but more importantly structured capacity building aimed at enhancing corporate governance understanding in the leadership and management of the organisations we fund. The capacity buildings are intended to capacitate beneficiaries to reduce conflicts within organisations that ultimately compromise projects funded and that impact on the NLC’s reputation and integrity.