National Lotteries Board settles in Molteno Institute lawsuit

Adams & Adams - on behalf of The NGO Molteno Institute for Language and Literacy - launched application proceedings out of the North Gauteng High Court to review and set aside the decision of the National Lotteries Board to withdraw a grant allocation of R20.4 million. This review was based on Section 33 of the Constitution as embodied in the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act ("PAJA").

Chairman of the NLB, Professor Alfred Nevhutanda, noted: "We have been in a state of transformation and are pleased to have had a matter such as this drawn to our attention. We recognise the importance of the Molteno project and are excited at the impact the project will have."

Hugely grateful

Molteno CEO, Masenya Dikotla, was grateful to the Lotteries Board for its swift action, saying: "We are hugely grateful that our initiatives will now go ahead as planned. Hundreds of children rely on the institute to learn the skills that will enable them to take up their rightful place in the world."

Nevhutanda said that the Lotteries Board is currently addressing historical administrative issues with a view to avoid unnecessary litigation and has emphasised that it is committed to performing its mandate in terms of the Lotteries Act.

"We are increasing capacity at executive level to deal with the thousands of applications received on an annual basis," said Nevhutanda.

Jac Marais, partner of Adams & Adams said: "We are delighted to have been able to assist Molteno, both in terms of funding and our services, as well as obtaining this positive result for them."