The National Lotteries Board (NLB) held its second indaba over the weekend of 18 April 2013, attended by over 1 500 delegates.
Since coming into being, the NLB has disbursed in excess of R14-billion to NGOs that socially uplift the country. Beneficiaries include organisations from sport and recreation, arts and culture to, most notably, charities.
The NLB began its indabas because there’s been a need to educate NGOs about the application process, establish norms and standards in an effort to circumvent dishonesty, operate by the book, and understand the role the NLB plays in the funding process. Equally important is to strengthen relationships between the NLB and its stakeholders and partners.
During the indaba, the NLB stressed the need for its mandate to align with the National Development Plan’s youth and skills development strategy, and for funding to be awarded accordingly.
NLB CEO Charlotte Thabang Mampane said: “By properly regulating the National Lottery and doing away with other illegal lottery operations, for example, we are in effect ensuring that the revenue that eventually finds its way to worthy causes is not diminished or diverted.”
This year’s indaba focused on sustainability: how to create new funding models, corporate governance and acknowledging social champions – NGOs that have showed exemplary achievements in accordance to the NLB mandate.
In today’s fluctuating economic environment, organisations operating within the NGO sector have to learn how to work smart, delegates were told. With donor funding declining, NGOs have to find sustainable means to continue their positive impact in their respective communities. South Africa has an estimated 150 000 NGOs, with only 100 000 registered.
Rob Davies, Minister of Trade and Industry, gave a stirring speech, stating that “everyone in the country [has] to make a contribution, in their own way, towards making South Africa a better society. This is, in essence, the very reason why the National Lotteries Board was established – to be a catalyst for social upliftment.”
Some of the social champions awarded on the gala night included:
Category 1: Compliance
Arts, Culture and National Heritage Sector: Cape Town Opera
Category 2: Governance
Non-Profit Company: Field Band Foundation
Category 3: Chairperson’s Choice Awards
Charities Sector: Eluxolweni Charitable Trust
At the end of the indaba, delegates came up with the following regulations to aid the funding process in the future:
- Accelerate decentralisation of operations to all provinces to ensure better access to services
- Strengthen partnerships with organisations that enhance capacity-building among beneficiaries
- Audit all the infrastructure and beneficiaries’ assets acquired through projects funded by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF)
- Develop and implement norms and standards for grant funding
- Endorse and align NLDTF funding with the National Development Plan, with focuses on poverty alleviation and job creation
- Facilitate a process of mentoring and coaching new organisations by established ones
- Absorb about 1 000 graduates through projects funded by NLDTF
The chairperson of the NLB, Professor Ntshengedzeni Alfred Nevhutanda, said: “We cannot afford to wait for a comprehensive national jobs plan. We need to find ways of making a difference, however small, using whatever avenues currently available to us.”