Parliament sends three candidates for lottery board chair to minister

Tembinkosi Bonakele, Mpho Mosing and Lufuno Nevondwe were recommended after interviews, with the DA opposing the report.

The National Assembly adopted a report on Tuesday recommending three candidates to fill the vacant chairperson position at the National Lotteries Commission board, with 218 votes in favour and 59 against.¹²

The portfolio committee on trade, industry and competition submitted the names of Tembinkosi Bonakele, Mpho Mosing and Lufuno Tokyo Nevondwe to Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau.¹² The three candidates achieved the highest scores during interviews and met all legislative requirements, having been vetted by the State Security Agency.² The committee advised the minister to consider conducting a probity assessment before finalising the appointment, as provided for in section 3A(2) of the Lotteries Act.²

The DA voted against the report in protest against Bonakele, a current NLC board member and frontrunner for the chairperson post, over the Commission's handling of a year-long reparation process for whistle-blowers who exposed multibillion-rand lottery corruption.¹ The three candidates emerged from interviews as the top choices after the portfolio committee reduced a list of 22 applicants to six.¹

The previous attempt to debate the report was postponed last month after proceedings descended into chaos when the MK Party and the EFF objected to the DA being called to speak first.¹ At Tuesday's vote, the EFF called for a division to expose what it termed the DA's racism.¹

The Lotteries Act requires that candidates be publicly nominated and that the relevant National Assembly committee recommend suitable candidates to the minister following a transparent process.² The minister will exercise executive authority in making the final appointment.² The vacancy follows the departure of outgoing National Lotteries Commission chairperson Barney Pityana.¹