Cape Town — The National Lotteries Commission (NLC) has confirmed plans to implement a policy to compensate whistleblowers who expose up to R2 billion in corrupt grants.
This development follows a Parliamentary Question submitted by the Democratic Alliance (DA) to the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Parks Tau. The minister revealed that the policy aims to support individuals who faced dismissal, torment, and financial losses as a result of whistleblowing, a statement read.
Minister Tau disclosed that Jodi Scholtz, the NLC Commissioner, had engaged with affected individuals. Scholtz described their experiences as “heart-wrenching,” acknowledging that their lives had been severely disrupted due to their dismissals.
“The NLC has not specified whether compensation for lost income during the period following dismissal will be provided. However, the reparation process aims to address the hardships faced by affected individuals, which could encompass financial compensation,” said Tau.
The DA has welcomed this approach, emphasising the need for broader application across the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC).
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“We believe that this must be a department-wide policy, applying to all entities in the DTIC. It is not good enough that it only happens sporadically, and in this case, only for the NLC,” said Toby Chance, the DA spokesperson for the DTIC.
Chance also called for the policy to extend to the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), which has faced governance and management challenges highlighted by whistleblowers since August 2024.
“As they suffer similar fates to their colleagues at the NLC, they too should have recourse to a department-wide policy of whistleblower compensation. It is high time that the evidence which the SABS whistleblowers continue to produce must be acted upon seriously,” he said.
Chance further noted that he had written to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Trade, Industry and Competition, Mswandile Masina, urging him to summon Minister Tau to explain his inaction regarding the appointment of an independent inquiry into allegations against SABS executives and board members. Masina has reportedly agreed to the request.
“It is imperative that clean and transparent governance becomes the norm in our state institutions. One way of achieving that is to give whistleblowers the confidence that the information they reveal, once confirmed for its veracity, will result in their fair and just treatment in the hands of their employers and law enforcement agencies,” Chance concluded.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
