Commissioner’s overview
Since inception, the NLC has sought to safeguard all lottery participants while maximising the proceeds from the National Lottery intended for good causes to enable catalytic change within our country. Within our current context, we can say with all certainty that achieving this aim has never been more critical.
Ensuring resilience within a challenging environment
As a nation, we find ourselves in a new economic reality following the hardships brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and resultant lockdowns. Indeed, many nations are grappling with efforts to bring economies back on track while balancing the risk of the pandemic. The consequent impact on organisations such as the NLC is an increased demand for funding as employment levels decline and sources of relief dry up.
Within this context, we sought to fulfil our mandates and respond swiftly to the intensified needs of our stakeholders over this time. Indeed, our robust risk management processes enabled the organisation to make informed decisions and respond proactively.
Within this context, and despite the difficulties faced as a result of the pandemic, we sought to fulfil our mandates and respond swiftly to the intensified needs of our stakeholders over this time. The agility of our response can be largely attributed to our robust risk management processes, which enabled the organisation to navigate the uncertainty and respond proactively, making informed decisions amidst the noise and volatility.
Maximising the impact of our activities
Regulatory compliance is the cornerstone of the NLC, with the organisation’s primary mandate being that of a regulator. Our regulatory approach aims to create an enabling environment for existing and prospective lotteries and sport pool operators to grow the sector and maximise revenue generation for good causes.
The increased prevalence of online lotteries requires tighter regulation to protect households’ resources from illegal operators, while the need for the types of services rendered by NGOs has increased due to the economic impact of measures implemented to keep COVID-19 at bay. With this in mind, we conducted 972 retailer inspections against a target of 650 to ensure that the integrity of the National Lottery and sports pools are maintained. Likewise, despite the challenges presented by our context, investigations were conducted on 100% of identified and reported lottery schemes and 2 990 monitoring reports were completed against a target of 2 500.
The NLC managed, notwithstanding harsh economic conditions and excessive demand on the fund, to fund worthy causes to the tune of R1.2 billion and ensured 100% of funds were allocated to identified priority areas.
Living our values
The Board is committed to clean governance as it provides strategic direction to and accountability over the running of the NLC, in line with the King IV Report on Corporate Governance. Members of the Board are professionals from diverse backgrounds, aligned with the values of the NLC, and dedicate time to steering the organisation toward maximum positive impact for the benefit of the hundreds of thousands of South Africans whose lives are changed for the better through our regulatory and funding activities.
The NLC takes cognisance of all issues raised by our stakeholders, implementing required controls to ensure our dual mandates are delivered effectively and efficiently. Additionally, our controls are continually enhanced to mitigate against potential and perceived corruption through ground-breaking initiatives to safeguard the organisation and ensure that our valued employees and external stakeholders engage in ethical practices.
Furthermore, a national perception survey was independently conducted to evaluate and enhance the different functions facilitated by the NLC. The study aimed to clarify the views and opinions held by participants from various internal and external stakeholder groups. The recommendations put forward have been integrated into our strategic thinking.
(Please see our stakeholder section for further discussion on the survey findings.)
Looking to the future
All government services must be reliable and stable, yet dynamic in the face of a constantly changing landscape of needs. In keeping with this theme, the NLC continues to evolve through efforts aimed at organisational renewal and digital transformation to enhance its dual mandate of regulation and grant-making.
The term of the current National Lottery Operator expires in May 2023, and the Board has fulfilled their legal obligation of ensuring that the Fourth National Lottery Licence Strategy was developed and timeously submitted to the Executive Authority. The respective legal teams of the NLC and the Minister are engaged in the process of legal clarification relating to the RFP document.
The NLC has continued to chart plans to ensure integration between the work of the department, with continual progress reported to the Ministry. Likewise, our APP was not about introducing many new objectives but, rather, delivering a fresh approach to implementation, with a focus on integration to enhance the development impact of the work of the NLC.
Outlook and appreciation
The NLC remains committed to social upliftment and, as such, has reviewed our plans to ensure that we continue to respond to the heightening needs of our stakeholders with agility and responsibility to create maximum impact while protecting the public through compliance, monitoring and enforcement of lotteries and sports pools.
I extend my sincere gratitude to the staff of the NLC, who continuously strive for performance excellence and demonstrate a continued commitment to being catalysts for social upliftment. I also wish to thank the Board and Exco for the strength of leadership they have demonstrated during these challenging times. And finally, to our shareholder and other stakeholders, thank you for your continued support.
Mrs TCC Mampane
Commissioner
National Lotteries Commission