Lottery budgets nearly a quarter of a billion rand for legal fees

The National Lotteries Commission has budgeted more than R230-million in legal fees over the next three years. Graphic: Lisa Nelson

• The National Lotteries Commission has budgeted nearly a quarter of a billion rand for legal expenses in the next three years.
• Briefing MPs on Wednesday, Commissioner Jodi Scholtz said this was “a necessary cost of rooting out corruption”.
• The money will be spent “defending the NLC against frivolous interdicts and pursuing the recovery of stolen funds”, she said.

The National Lotteries Commission (NLC) has budgeted to spend over R230.6-million in legal fees until the end of the 2029 financial year, to fight “frivolous interdicts” and recover stolen funds.

This eye-watering budget, which the NLC says was a “necessary cost of rooting out corruption”, was revealed during a presentation of its 2026/27 annual performance plan in Parliament on Wednesday.

In her presentation to the Trade, Industry and Competition Portfolio Committee, NLC Commissioner Jodi Scholtz told MPs: “A significant portion of our current litigation load is proactive, not reactive.

“As the NLC collaborates with law enforcement, such as the SIU, to recover misappropriated public funds, freeze assets, and terminate irregular contracts, the natural pushback from implicated parties is aggressive litigation.”

“We are working closely with all stakeholders to expedite these matters, accepting this temporary spike in legal risk as the necessary cost of rooting out corruption,” Scholtz said.

The NLC was overwhelmed by corruption under its previous leadership, with the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) previously telling Parliament that it was investigating lottery-related corruption of over R2-billion.

Preservation orders granted by the Special Tribunal over luxury homes, farms, vehicles and other assets paid for with misappropriated lottery funds have been met with legal pushback by those involved.

This includes litigation by former NLC board chairperson Alfred Nevhutanda, who has asked the High Court to review and set aside President Cyril Ramaphosa’s authorisation of a SIU probe into corruption at the NLC. Nevhutanda has been implicated in benefiting from misappropriated lottery funding.

“We have ringfenced a robust legal budget specifically dedicated to defending the NLC against frivolous interdicts and pursuing the recovery of stolen funds. We are working closely with all stakeholders to expedite these matters, accepting this temporary spike in legal risk as the necessary cost of rooting out corruption,” Scholtz told MPs.

“Public scandals and cases of corruption give rise to elongated litigation processes. This not only delays justice but also weakens public trust in organisations that provide social development services.

“Lengthy legal battles can disrupt operations, reduce revenue, and lead to significant costs for the organisation, further leading to budget constraints or delays in resource allocation.”

“On the other hand, investigation processes can be seen as anti-corruption measures as they highlight the inefficiencies of current systems in place. These can then be improved through the integration of more reliable and transparent systems.”

Reputational damage

The reputational damage suffered by the NLC in recent years has been profound, Scholtz told MPs. “While our internal systems have improved, public perception naturally lags behind operational reality.”

To mitigate this, the NLC has implemented a policy of “radical transparency”.

“This includes publishing the details of all grant beneficiaries, the amounts awarded, and the specific projects funded. Furthermore, we are actively publicising our successful consequence management efforts, demonstrating to civil society that the era of impunity has ended,” she said.

Priority funding

The NLC’s performance plan lists five areas for priority funding: education and family, vulnerable youth, combating gender-based violence, rural development, and food security.

The NLC has not yet reported on its 2025/2026 financial year, but in 2024/2025 it distributed R988-million to good causes.

There were complaints about the slow assessment of grant applications. But the NLC put this down to new processes introduced to combat fraud and corruption, as well as too few distributing agency members to adjudicate applications. Since then, 10 new distributing agency members have been appointed, speeding up the adjudication process.

The NLC has budgeted to distribute R2.083-billion in 2026/27, 72% of its budget, to good causes from its share of a projected R2.91-billion from ticket sales. According to its annual reports, the NLC’s share of ticket sales has increased from R1.66-billion in 2023 to R1.96-billion in 2025.

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