Gambling board finally seeks members, a decade after administration

A decade after the National Gambling Board was placed under administration and its entire board of directors resigned, the department of trade, industry and competition (DTIC) has finally begun the process of appointing board members.

In response to a question from IFP MP Nhlanhla Hadebe on October 10, DTIC minister Parks Tau said positions on the board and several other entities under the DTIC had been advertised.

The National Gambling Board is responsible for overseeing the huge gambling industry. Among other things, it evaluates licences issued by the provincial licencing authorities and helps provinces detect unlicensed gambling.

In the year ending March 31 2024, total revenue from gambling in SA amounted to R59.3bn, 60% of it from betting 3 which became the biggest form of gambling in 2020/21 — and 29% from casinos, according to the board’s 2024 annual financial report. The board itself has a budget of about R280m a year.

The gambling board was placed under administration in 2014 by former minister Rob Davies following a forensic audit into maladministration and wasteful expenditure. All the board members resigned just over two months later, according to an internal DTIC letter leaked to GroundUp. The CEO resigned a few months earlier, in April of that same year, and Caroline Kongwa and Tumelo Baleni were appointed joint administrators. Baleni resigned in 2015.

Kongwa’s initial appointment as a joint administrator was extended several times, despite some internal opposition, and in 2019 she was appointed chief strategic adviser, a position which did not previously exist.

The DTIC has appointed forensic auditors to investigate the board’s affairs, Tau said in April in a written response to a question from DA MP Darren Bergman.

“The department [of trade, industry and competition] has commenced an investigation into matters relating to the National Gambling Board, initially focused on the procurement of the building. [The board moved to a new building in November 2023.] A forensic investigating company has been appointed in this regard,” Tau said.

“A further briefing by the department relating to remuneration and authorisation for overseas travel has raised governance questions relating to these matters. This will now be included in the forensic investigation.”

The department was also considering what “appropriate, immediate steps should be taken in addition to the above”, Tau said. Once the investigation is complete, “the necessary actions will be taken where warranted, and a report will be submitted to parliament.”

Asked about the outcome of the investigation, Yamkela Fanisi, the minister’s spokesperson, said that the ministry had received a draft report which needed to be processed internally. The report and the name of the forensic investigation company could not be given out yet, said Fanisi.

Kongwa did not respond to emailed questions sent to her official address.

Other vacancies within DTIC entities that have also been advertised are the following:

• Three full-time members of the Competition Tribunal;
• Members of the board of the Export Credit Insurance Corporation of SA;
• Non-executive directors of the board of the Industrial Development Corporation;
• Trustees of the board of the National Empowerment Fund;
• Full-time members of the Distributing Agency of the National Lotteries Commission;
• Members of the board of the SA Bureau of Standards;
• Members of the board of the SA National Accreditation System;
• Members of the SA Council for Space Affairs;
• Members of the Takeover Regulation Panel;
• CEO of the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications;
• CEO of the National Credit Regulator; and
• Deputy commissioners at the Competition Commission

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