NGOs stuck amid lottery commission backlogs - Gauteng Care Crisis Committee

John Perlman speaks with Lisa Vetten, Chairperson of the Gauteng Care Crisis Committee.

Listen below.

The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) has yet to decide who will take over as the next lottery operator.

The decision is a contentious one, and the process has been delayed several times.

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This could severely impact NGOs and other beneficiaries in the country who rely on funds from the lottery.

Vetten says applications for funding dating back to 2023 have still not been adjudicated.

She adds that any organisation that has made an application that has not been processed is not allowed to make another one.

“It is the difference between being able to run a quality service versus a service that barely scrapes the barrel.”

- Lisa Vetten, Chairperson of the Gauteng Care Crisis Committee 

According to Vetten, there is a backlog of 2600 applications and only three people are trying to process them.

There should be nine distributing agents but for the past 18 months there have been only three.

If these organisations cannot provide the services they offer, she says there could be numerous consequences for the people who rely on them.

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.