DA dismayed by NLC about-turn on whistleblower reparations commitment

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DA dismayed by NLC about-turn on whistleblower reparations commitment

CHANON LECODEY MERRICKS ONLINE_EDITOR©®™

The Democratic Alliance is dismayed by the National Lotteries Commission’s about turn on its commitment to pay reparations to whistleblowers who came forward with information on years of corruption by board members, executives, staff and collusive outsiders in the awarding of grants by the National Lotteries Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF).

A media release issued by the NLC dated 10th December states that it has concluded its reparative measures process. But it appears to back-track on its earlier commitment that this would result in monetary and non-monetary compensation.

The media statement says the NLC is “prioritising restoration over compensation, healing over financial settlement, and fairness, dignity and responsible stewardship of public funds.” Whistleblowers who are not staff members are not included in the settlement, but will be “administered through the NLC’s ordinary operational and funding mechanisms’.

The DA believes this about-turn is a slap in the face to the whistleblowers, who had with every justification been expecting monetary compensation as part of a final settlement.

A response dated 9th January 2025 to a written question I submitted to Minister Parks Tau stated that “the reparation process is expected to address various forms of restitution, which may include legal costs.”  A response dated 4th April to a written question from the MK Party stated that “R20 million has been ring-fenced for individual reparative measures” and that “National Treasury has been informed about the ring-fenced R20 million as part of the NLC surplus.”

At great personal cost to themselves and their families, these whistleblowers revealed a systematic and sustained undermining of good governance standards by the NLDTF that has led to the Special Investigations Unit identifying up to R2 billion worth of illegal grants made to NPOs since 2013.

These grants were facilitated by corrupt NLC employees who the NLC defended in court at great expense, forcing the whistleblowers to spend their own money to defend themselves, often leading to their financial ruin and suffering severe mental stress, sickness and family breakdown.

Staff members, after blowing the whistle internally, were victimised and dismissed from the NLC and have not found gainful employment since. They turned to the media to have their stories told and taken seriously.

Whistleblowers who ran NPOs whose committed grants never materialised and instead were channelled to corrupt staff members or to NPOs hijacked by corrupt collaborators, have had to close their businesses. They have in many cases suffered death threats but nevertheless cooperated with the SIU and signed affidavits to help nail the culprits.

The DA believes an appalling injustice has been meted out to these whistleblowers. To obtain the record of decision leading to this about turn, the DA has submitted further written questions to Minister Tau, including:

What is the detailed chronology of all steps taken in this process, from the first raising of the issue of the concept of reparations to whistleblowers, until the current date,

During this process, which (i) government and (ii) non-governmental entities were consulted and what was the nature of their involvement,

What is the total cost of the administrative process to provide these reparations, including all fees paid to lawyers, consultants, advisors, and any other relevant fees in this regard?

The reparations process appears to have handsomely compensated everyone apart from the intended beneficiaries. The DA will not rest until a fair settlement that includes monetary compensation is reached with the whistleblowers.

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