Three prominent South Africans are in the running for the position of chairperson of the board of the National Lotteries Commission (NLC).
The three candidates are former public protector Thuli Madonsela, struggle stalwart and former director-general in the presidency Reverend Frank Chikane, and human rights lawyer and academic Barney Pityana.
The candidates' names were submitted to National Assembly speaker Thandi Modise by trade and industry minister Ebrahim Patel.
The portfolio committee on trade and industry is calling for public comments on the proposed names before deciding who among the three should be next chairperson of the NLC by next month.
The lotteries commission has been marred by allegations of corruption, nepotism and other forms of wrongdoing. This prompted President Cyril Ramaphosa to earlier this month sign a proclamation authorising the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to probe the corruption allegations at the NLC.
The appointment of a new chairperson of the NLC board was expected to help restore the credibility of the organisation.
Madonsela currently teaches law at the Stellenbosch University. According to her CV, she holds a BA Law from the University of Swaziland obtained in 1987 and an LLB from Wits obtained in 1990. She also boasts a postgraduate qualification from Harvard Advanced Leadership and honorary degrees in law from universities including Fort Hare, Cape Town and Rhodes and the Canadian Law Society.
Chikane is the former general-secretary of the SA Council of Churches and served as director-general in the presidency under Thabo Mbeki. According to his CV, Chikane holds two master’s degrees in religious studies from the then University of Natal (now UKZN) and in public administration from the Kennedy School of Governance at Harvard University. He was awarded three honorary degrees by Groningen University in the Netherlands, Orbelin College in the US and the Nelson Mandela University.
Pityana, according to his CV, was a consultant and adviser to former president Mbeki’s foundation, was appointed president of the Human Sciences Research Council in 1999, and was until 2010 principal and vice-chancellor at Unisa. He holds a BA Law and BProc from Unisa, a PhD in religious studies from UCT and an LLM in labour law from Unisa. Pityana holds several honorary degrees including one from Athabasca University in Canada, an honorary visiting professorship at Nelson Mandela University in 2020, as well as LLD honoris causa at Rhodes University.
