For four years we’ve been exposing corruption in the National Lotteries Commission. In story after story we’ve shown how money meant for good causes has been used to buy ostentatious properties and luxury goods for people connected to the Lottery.
Our work is paying off. Board members Alfred Nevhutanda and William Huma have been given the boot. Chief Operating Officer Phillemon Letwaba has been suspended and, on Tuesday, Commissioner Thabang Mampane resigned.
This is not just our doing of course. The Special Investigating Unit is doing its job and the new Lottery board is showing its teeth. Publications like the Limpopo Mirror have also exposed Lottery corruption. Also, the big publishers have run our stories, ensuring they have been widely read.
But without our exposés, for which reporter Raymond Joseph has won awards, it is unlikely action would have been taken.
We’re also trying to hold the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) to account for the collapse of the commuter rail system. And we do our best to report on the failures of politicians and officials to keep their promises on social grants, schools, housing, electricity and sanitation. We’re proud to say that sometimes our work gets things changed.
Through our Questions and Answers column, we provide information that enables readers to hold officials accountable too.
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