Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa needs to explain the ”confusion” between his department and the National Lotteries Board (NLB), the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Wednesday.
While the department denied involvement in the ”unfair” 42,4% increase in performance bonuses at the ”chaotic” NLB, board spokesperson Sershan Naidoo had contended Mpahlwa authorised the bonuses himself, DA spokesperson Pierre Rabie said.
The DA would submit parliamentary questions to probe the situation.
Mpahlwa needed to explain why there was such confusion between his department and the NLB and on what basis he approved the performance awards, if he had done so, Rabie said.
The two central issues concerning the increase in performance bonuses awarded to NLB staff was that there was no performance appraisal system in place by which the increase could be warranted, and such a huge increase did not make sense if the lottery system had failed to function in a number of respects.
Naidoo had failed to address these concerns in his responses to media enquiries.
Naidoo stated no objections had been raised with the NLB following the same procedure as the previous year in awarding performance bonuses.
Yet an employee performance management policy was clearly required by the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).
He also contended that the NLB was not responsible for the breakdown of the lottery system, since the department was responsible for appointing lottery distribution agencies and issuing a licence to conduct the Lotto.
Yet Section 10 of the Lottery Act very clearly made the NLB responsible for advising the minister and his department on all aspects related to running the lottery system.
Naidoo said a 42,4% performance bonus increase was warranted by a corresponding increase in staff members, yet the staff complement reportedly increased by only 21% — from 43 to 52, Rabie said. – Sapa