Dti spells out proposed amendments to Lotteries Act

Members of the public have until 7 June 2013 to submit comments on the Draft Amendment Bill of the Lotteries Act of 1997. According to the Minister of Trade and Industry (the dti) Dr Rob Davies, the amendment Bill followed several improvements already made in the administration of the National Lotteries Board. The Bill proposes the appointment of permanent distribution agencies. Davies is of the view that this will address the lack of quorums in the distribution agencies which affect their efficiency. “To address this we will appoint full-time distribution agencies because we discovered that part-time distribution agencies did not work. Due to their workloads, there had been unsatisfactory delays from the time that applications were received until funds were distributed. This is caused by the fact that the members are appointed on a part-time base and sometimes they struggle to form a quorum. This will be something of the past once the Bill is implemented,” said Davies. Minister Davies says the Bill is also addressing the challenges of accountability and conflict of interest amongst the members of the distribution agencies. “To clear conflict of interest, we propose in the Bill that members of the distributing agencies should discontinue engagement with potential beneficiaries of lottery funding as recusal from meetings when their own charities or causes were possible beneficiaries was insufficient,” he added. Comments should be submitted by e-mail to NEMashamaite@thedti.gov.za. The draft Lotteries Amendment Bill can be accessed on: http://www.thedti.gov.za/invite_comments/Draft_Lotteries_Bill_2013.pdf