Pretoria - The National Lotteries Commission (NLC) says that news organisation GroundUp is running a targeted campaign aimed at discrediting the commission and its staff in the matter of the distribution of funds to non-profit organisations (NPOs) and charities in South Africa.
GroundUp has extensively reported on alleged corruption and nepotism in the selection of organisations that receive the NLC funds. The organisation is currently being sued over their coverage of alleged looting of NLC funds.
“The ongoing and false smear campaign against the NLC is that the distribution of funds to NPOs and a vast range of charities is corrupt and self-serving. This is grossly false and defamatory. The campaign by GroundUp is aimed at harming the NLC. GroundUp harps upon the problems that have arisen in a small minority of grant-funded NPOs and communities,” the NLC said in a statement.
The NLC said it was co-operating in full with the ongoing independent investigations into the numerous allegations made in connection with the grants, worth millions, that were handed out.
“They (GroundUp) are fully aware that these matters which they recycle on a weekly basis constitute less than 3% of NLC grant funding, yet they conflate that to 30% and say the NLC is totally corrupt and a captured organisation. This is a smear campaign using inflated figures in a sensationalistic manner,” said the NLC.
“The NLC has hard evidence which is being brought before the courts and the Press Council. Not only is GroundUp using the tactic of daily climate creation in respect of these cases and prejudging them before their adjudication is complete, but they are using their foregone conclusions to attack the NLC and its members before adjudication has taken place.”
The NLC said there was an ongoing campaign to depict a divide between itself and Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Ebrahim Patel, which it described as “simply an act of mischief”.
Multiple civil society groups under the United Civil Society in Action (UCSA) banner have approached the High Court in Pretoria, requesting it to rule on the publication of details of NLC beneficiaries in the media. The matter is set to be heard in court this month.
On June 15, Minister Patel confirmed in a letter to Parliament that his department was investigating the commission's multi-million rand projects. He has also openly called for the the names of recipents of NLC funds to be made public.
“The debate with regards to the publication or prohibition of beneficiary information will be determined by a court in the coming week. This has constrained the NLC to discuss the merits of this issue. The implication of this ongoing smear is the perception that the vast bulk of NLC-distributed funds do not go to NPOs to help good causes and that the organisation is corrupt,” said the NLC.
“GroundUp and (reporter) Raymond Joseph tar all the good work of the distribution agencies who are independently appointed by the minister with the same brush in respect of odd cases which the NLC is fully engaged in investigating and rectifying. The NLC calls upon GroundUp and its reporter to cease their campaign of vilification with sensationalised repeated reports.”
In February, the Democratic Alliance announced that the chief operating officer of the NLC, Phillemon Letwaba, had agreed to take leave until the beginning of March amid allegations of corruption involving millions of rand in charity funds.