.The organisation had claimed that millions disbursed by the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) has failed to reach its intended beneficiaries, thus school children in Limpopo and Eastern Cape are the hardest-hit.
It went to note that a report issued to the commission by contractor Zibsifusion detailed the contractor’s progress in March this year regarding the building of ablution facilities at eight schools, after being awarded a R10m tender last year November by NLC.
In response the NLC said:” The NLC would like to put it on record that there is nothing unusual to pay money to an NPO to start a project. In their statement OUTA highlight that the “funds were paid to Zibfusion prior to their progress report”.
The NLC funds NPO’s and source service providers for various projects. Our grant making system is such that after an allocation is approved, the NLC have 60 days within which to make payment and this is prescribed by legislation,” it said in a media statement.
These projects were funded in response to challenges experienced by schools in the rural parts of these provinces, where the disadvantaged communities still struggle with the basic right to sanitation.
The Eastern Cape leg of the project have been completed, with Limpopo a bit behind schedule.
The NLC would like to put it on record that there is nothing unusual to pay money to an NPO to start a project. In their statement OUTA highlight that the “funds were paid to Zibfusion prior to their progress report”.
According to NLC they’ve been in constant engagement with OUTA between September and November 2019 as part of transparency on the project and invited them for verification visit of the ablution facilities, with the proposed date yet to be finalised.
“These projects were funded in response to challenges experienced by schools in the rural parts of these provinces, where the disadvantaged communities still struggle with the basic right to sanitation,” says Commission’s head of communication Ndivhuho Mafela.
He said the Eastern Cape leg of the project had been completed, while Limpopo was currently 80% complete.
Dominique Msibi, Outa’s manager for special projects says OUTA wanted to expose the appalling state of the ablution facilities at these schools, which should have been much improved, given the money the commission paid to Zibsifusion.
However, the NLC remains resolute and adheres to clean governance, says Mafela.
Meanwhile, the Commission would like to notify its grant holders and prospective applicants of the closure of receipt for applications for the 2019/20 financial year.
Applications for the following
funding sectors will close on the 10th of December 2019and reopen on the
01st of April 2020.(Until the new financial year).
