DA welcomes the resignation of the NLC COO

25 August 2022

Note to Editors: Please find attached soundbite by Mat Cuthbert MP.

The DA welcomes the announcement that National Lotteries Commission (NLC) Chief Operations Officer, Philemon Letwaba, has tendered his resignation.

However, the DA questions the timing surrounding his resignation as he was due to face a disciplinary hearing in a few weeks’ time.

It should be noted that the NLC’s board has not yet accepted his resignation and there is a widely held view that this is because they want to complete the disciplinary process against him before proceeding to fire him.

The DA would not be opposed to this course of action if the board decides to do so as long as they are in possession of the necessary evidence to be able to finalise this matter.

According to publication GroundUp, Letwaba is alleged to have played a significant role in the capture of the NLC and is alleged to have benefited to the tune of at least R45 million through multiple entities linked to his family who have misappropriated NLC funds.

These funds have allegedly been used to fund upgrades to his personal home which include a roof deck, building material, security systems, horticultural work and interior décor.

The DA has consistently fought in the corner of the vulnerable, the sick and marginalised who been swindled out of duly deserved funding by the NLC.

We will not rest until each of those individuals responsible for the industrial-scale looting at the NLC are put behind bars.

Issued by Mat Cuthbert, DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, 25 August 2022