NGO sues National Lottery over R20m reversal

"We're [...] very grateful that law firm Adams & Adams (and other funding partners) has agreed to represent us and to contribute to the legal costs that are being incurred." says Molteno's CEO Masennya Dikotla.

The funding award was made in June and withdrawn in August, with the National Lottery claiming budgetary constraints, Dikotla says. "We seriously doubt the truth of this, as the award was made and withdrawn in the space of a couple of months within the same financial year. We are also particularly suspicious," he adds "considering the Supreme Court judgment of September 2011 that stated the National Lottery had underspent by R6 billion!" According to Polity.org.za, Dikotla says the National Lottery has repeatedly refused to supply any information - such as minutes of meetings or financial statements - to support its claims of a lack of budget.

Adams & Adams partner Jac Marais stresses that, as a statutory body, the Lotteries Board may only take decisions in terms of the Lotteries Act. "The Act provides that only the Minister may withdraw funds that have been allocated, and then only on very limited grounds none of which apply in the current circumstances." Recently, hundreds of people representing NGOs took part in a protest march accusing the National Lottery of unfair treatment. "We suspect that there are other NGO's whose grants may also have been illegally withdrawn" Marais says.

Read the full article on /www.polity.org.za.