Black Communities Betrayed as R65-Million Lottery Scandal Leaves Essential Infrastructure to Rot

Three years after promising to repair the damage from one of South Africa's most devastating corruption scandals, the National Lotteries Commission continues to fail the very communities it was meant to serve. The R65-million allocated to complete looted infrastructure projects remains unspent while essential facilities for our people deteriorate into ruins.

Another Broken Promise to Black Communities

This is not just administrative incompetence. This is a systematic betrayal of black communities who desperately need these facilities. While the NLC shuffles papers and appoints panels, old-age homes that should be caring for our elders are being stripped bare by looters. Drug rehabilitation centres that could save lives remain empty shells.

Of 13 multimillion-rand projects under investigation by the Special Investigating Unit, only one is operational. The rest stand as monuments to a system that continues to fail black South Africans, decades after apartheid's supposed end.

The Human Cost of Elite Greed

In Maila village, rural Limpopo, an old-age home meant to serve our elderly has been reduced to a "roofless, rotting skeleton" after systematic looting. In Marapyane, Mpumalanga, community members watch helplessly as another facility is stripped bare while the NLC claims it cannot legally fund security.

These are not just buildings. These were meant to be lifelines for communities abandoned by the post-apartheid elite. Instead, they became cash cows for connected individuals who saw opportunity in our people's desperation.

The Same Old Story

The pattern is depressingly familiar. Hundreds of millions meant for black communities disappear into private pockets. Investigations drag on for years. Promises are made, panels appointed, processes established. Meanwhile, the intended beneficiaries continue to suffer.

Some projects received grants dating back to 2017, with the NLC providing additional funding without even checking how previous money was spent. This level of negligence would be criminal in any functioning democracy.

Communities Fighting Back

Despite institutional failure, communities are not passive victims. In Marapyane, residents are actively trying to protect their old-age home from looters. In other areas, people are finding alternative uses for abandoned facilities, even if the NLC threatens legal action against them.

This grassroots resistance shows what our people are capable of when institutions serve their interests rather than elite networks.

Time for Real Accountability

The NLC's latest response reveals the same bureaucratic doublespeak that has characterised this scandal from the beginning. They speak of "Community Infrastructure Reparations Process" and "multidisciplinary engineering service providers" while communities watch their promised facilities crumble.

Three years of inaction is three years too many. Our people deserve better than empty promises and consultant reports. They deserve functioning facilities that serve their needs, not another generation of disappointment from institutions that claim to represent their interests.

The lottery was supposed to benefit all South Africans, particularly those most in need. Instead, it became another vehicle for elite enrichment at the expense of black communities. Until there is real accountability, not just for the original theft but for the ongoing failure to repair the damage, this scandal will remain a symbol of how little has really changed since 1994.