The South African National Lottery Commission‘s COO Phillemon Letwaba has made allegations of bias following charges of corruption brought against him.
According to Ground Up, Letwaba has accused Abel Dlamini, Executive Chairman of SkX Protiviti, the audit firm commissioned by the lottery to probe internal corruption, of being biased and having a conflict of interest.
In the court application, Letwaba said that the non-profit company in which Dlamini’s apparent relatives are listed as directors, Ubuntu Institute for Young Entrepreneurs, received an almost R15m grant from the lottery soon after SkX was appointed.
Letwaba said he believed that “a personal relationship” between Dlamini and former NLC board member William Huma “will undermine the result of any investigation”.
Last year, Huma resigned as an NLC board member after he was confronted with evidence of his alleged corruption uncovered by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).
A previous application to quash a probe into corruption allegations was thrown out by the Pretoria High Court in February 2022, with Letwaba suspended on full pay since an investigation was launched against him.
Minister Patel, who has oversight over the lottery, is yet to receive a copy of SkX’s investigation report, which has reportedly cost almost R10m.
