Highlights from the Financial Year

Advertorial

14 DEC 2018, 03:00

4 min read

The National Lotteries Commission (NLC) quarterly and annual reports are publicly available and provide both stakeholder and public with accessible insights into the work that the commission undertakes. Both reports have captured some significant highlights over the past year that encapsulate how the NLC has performed its duties.

In the quarterly report, the NLC highlights commence with the Post Indaba Stakeholder Engagement (PISE) for Gauteng that took place in Mogale City in June 2018. With more than 60 000 registered non-profit organisations (NPOs), the highest number in comparison to other provinces, Gauteng is a focal point for the NLC. The event was attended by more than 500 beneficiaries with the Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies giving an address. The PISE is a platform were the NLC engages stakeholders while contextualising the resolutions of the previous Indaba (held every two years)

Over the past year, the NLC has also focused on establishing strategic relationships with a variety of partners. The department of social development, the German Corporation for Technical Co-operation, Wits University and the University of KwaZulu-Natal were identified in this regard. A MOU was established with the department of social development, a strategic step towards achieving the 2017 Indaba resolution to strengthen NLC-funded infrastructure projects. Another significant MoU was signed with the National House of Traditional Leaders, and its intent is to:

Provided support to NPOs in rural communities to increase their eligibility to access NLC funding;

Enhance capacity building of rural communities to effectively manage community-based projects towards sustainability, while strengthening the leadership, management and institutional capacity of rural communities to deliver services to the poor;

Proactively co-fund identified projects for the benefit of rural communities

Establish monitoring and evaluation processes that support best practice in providing capacity building for rural communities; and

Promote awareness of the regulatory role of the NLC as per the NLC Act.

The NLC is also awake to impact the already prevalent Fourth Industrial Revolution on how the lottery business is conducted., and the urgent need to address policy and legislative impediments to the adoption of new technology.

Consistent education and awareness remains a priority for the NLC including awareness around illegal lotteries, which the NLC continues to monitor and enforce investigations into – an action which has resulted in many being identified and closed.

An impressive statistic

The 2017/2018 integrated annual report provides even richer detail into the activities performed by the NLC and the results of this work. The report highlights some of the statistics that really showcase the success of the NLC and its beneficiaries. Some highlights include:

100% localisation of procurement for provincial provinces, with R55-million provided to designated groups;

The total cash disbursed was also up by 5% on the previous year, reaching a total of R2 073-billion;

The NLC conducted 2 333 monitoring and evaluation site visits, adjudicated 81% of applications within the 150 day timeframe, exceeding the 75% target considerably, and ensured that 66% of disbursements were within the 60-day timeframe;

By March 2018, 12 488 applications were adjudicated, thereby removing the long-standing backlog affecting deliverables;

NLC-funded projects have created a total of 14 414 temporary and permanent jobs nationally, while a total of 691 146 individuals have been reached or served by NLC beneficiaries; and

The statistics also revealed that the illegal lotteries mandate was working, with 89% identified and closed.

Overall, the NLC has delivered exceptional results over the past quarter and focused on removing backlogs, transforming operations, investing into technology and streamlining processes. The impact of this commitment is showing in the numbers and in the NLC’s continued focus on the future.

Priority Funding

The needs and request for funding always exceed what is available in the budget for distribution. While the NLC has an annual budget of around R1.5 billion for distribution, requests for funding have reached the R 40 billion mark! To make sure that the distribution is fair and impactful, the NLC sets out priority areas for funding each year. In addition to the legislated cooling off period, and categorising of grants into small, medium, and large, this measure helps to ensure that qualifying organisations have a fair opportunity to access funding.