• Subscribe to our newsletter
The Media Online
  • Home
  • MOST Awards
  • News
    • Awards
    • Media Mecca
  • Print
    • Newspapers
    • Magazines
    • Publishing
  • Broadcasting
    • TV
    • Radio
    • Cinema
    • Video
  • Digital
    • Mobile
    • Online
  • Agencies
    • Advertising
    • Media agency
    • Public Relations
  • OOH
    • Events
  • Research & Education
    • Research
    • Media Education
      • Media Mentor
  • Press Office
    • Press Office
    • TMO.Live Blog
    • Events
    • Jobs
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • MOST Awards
  • News
    • Awards
    • Media Mecca
  • Print
    • Newspapers
    • Magazines
    • Publishing
  • Broadcasting
    • TV
    • Radio
    • Cinema
    • Video
  • Digital
    • Mobile
    • Online
  • Agencies
    • Advertising
    • Media agency
    • Public Relations
  • OOH
    • Events
  • Research & Education
    • Research
    • Media Education
      • Media Mentor
  • Press Office
    • Press Office
    • TMO.Live Blog
    • Events
    • Jobs
No Result
View All Result
The Media Online
No Result
View All Result
Home Press

Is the National Lotteries Commission countering media exposés with advertising?

by Raymond Joseph
December 18, 2019
in Press
0 0
0
Is the National Lotteries Commission countering media exposés with advertising?

Photo: The National Lotteries Commission’s advertising raises troubling questions/ Raymond Joseph

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

“The National Lotteries Commission handed over the keys to a newly rebuilt Vhafamadi to the principal Mr Thenga just in time for the 2017 academic year.”

This quote about a school is from an eight-page advertorial — paid-for advertising written in an editorial style — that was published in print and online by the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) in the Mail & Guardian in December 2018.

The school sounds exactly like the kind of thing that money raised by the sale of Lottery tickets should be spent on. Except that the grant to rebuild Vhafamadi High School in Limpopo had been exposed as dodgy by GroundUp two months earlier.

GroundUp reported how the school, built with a R28.3-million grant channelled via a non-compliant organisation run by a boxing promoter, needed structural repairs 19 months after it had opened.

The advertorial supplement was part of a huge increase in advertising spend by the NLC at a time of many dodgy grants allocated from Lottery money. Reports since early 2018 by GroundUp have highlighted incomplete projects, incompetence, strange funding decisions and possible corruption.

According to the NLC’s annual financial statements, the organisation spent R131 157 000 — an average of R18.7 million a year — on advertising between 2012 and 2019. Its adspend has grown from just R716 000 in 2012 to a high of just over R43 million in 2016. Adspend was R21.9 million and R22.7 million in the 2018 and 2019 financial years respectively.

Lottery tickets worth over R7 billion were sold in the 2018/19 financial year. Of this, R1.3-billion was dispersed to “good causes”. This was an increase on the R6.1 billion raised from ticket sales in 2017/18 when R1.6 billion was paid out to Lottery beneficiaries. In 2016/17 there were tickets worth R6 billion, with R1.4 billion going to good causes.

This does not include the money spent advertising the Lottery itself, which is a much bigger amount and done by a different company — Ithuba.

The NLC is not responsible for the actual Lottery. Its role is to disburse about 30% of the intake from Lottery tickets on good causes.

So why does the NLC need to advertise?

“The anchor of the NLC’ s communication strategy like any other organisation is to be positioned as a catalyst for social upliftment both as a regulator and a grantmaker,” says NLC spokesman Ndivuhuho Mafela about the organisation spending millions on advertising.

“We do this through continuously improving our stakeholder engagement and communication,” he said. “The NLC engages in education and awareness programmes through various public platforms.”

Advertising was used to “proactively communicate with the public” on illegal lotteries, share “good stories” about beneficiaries and also share “good stories” about the impact of grant funding, Mafela said.

Using advertising as subtle pressure?

Is the NLC using this increased advertising spend to subtly discourage scrutiny of its practices?

Here is what happened to two journalists who dealt with the organisation.

Former Lowvelder journalist Tereasa Dias reported how the construction of a R22 million Lottery-funded drug rehab in Nelspruit had ground to a halt. After her first story appeared, she submitted more questions to the NLC.

Instead of supplying answers, NLC spokesman Ndivuhuho Mafela called her and said the organisation wanted “to do some advertising in the Lowvelder,” she says. “Even though he didn’t say so, I felt he was trying to use this to shut me up,” says Dias. “I suggested he call the advertising department.”

Dias went ahead and published another story. No advertising was placed with the Lowvelder and the NLC “ignored” all subsequent questions submitted by Dias.

And small-town newspaper owner Anton van Zyl, who has reported extensively on the Lottery (see here and here) was visited in his Louis Trichardt, Limpopo, offices by Mafela before Christmas last year.

“We spoke about lots of things, including the corruption that had been uncovered. “At one stage Mafela told me that he had a big budget to spend on advertising as they needed to highlight the regulatory challenges of the NLC,” said Van Zyl. “I told him that would be good but referred him to Capro, which handles all our national advertising. I also suggested that the NLC consider advertising in independently owned newspapers and gave him contact details for the Association of Independent Publishers (AIP).”

Van Zyl is a founder member of the AIP. This organisation endeavours to channel government and other advertising to independent publishers, as advertising is often their lifeblood.

The NLC subsequently placed an advertorial in Limpopo Mirror, one of Van Zyl’s papers that had reported extensively on the Lottery, which ran just before Christmas 2018. Van Zyl has continued to report critically on the Lottery and says he will also continue to accept NLC and other Lottery advertising.

“I believe refusing advertising can also be construed as a type of censorship, which I would not condone. We have a policy to accept advertising unless it is dodgy, illegal or in bad taste.”

Mafela takes issue with any suggestion that the NLC is trying to buy favour with publications: “The NLC has and continues to build relationships with various media houses, ranging from broadcast, radio, and print. This includes community radio stations and newspapers in far-flung rural (areas) of South Africa where most of NLC beneficiaries would reside. The insinuation that there is any link between NLC advertising and editorial coverage is silly and mischievous and we dismiss it with the contempt it deserves.”

Softsoap on the airwaves

As part of its 20th anniversary, the NLC bought “advertorial airtime” on the SABC’s SAFM radio station. Consisting of “soft interviews”, NLC executives were interviewed about the work of the organisation, its process and how grant funding works. The packages included posts about the upcoming NLC interviews on the SABC’s social media platforms.

But on-air the fact that the interviews were paid-for was not made clear and are easy to mistake for normal independent programming. This interview with NLC Commissioner Thabang Mampane and this one with its COO Phillemon Letwaba are two of five paid interviews with NLC executives. Nowhere in his introduction does host Bongi Gwala, the host of The Talking Point — a regular feature — on SAFM, state that the interview is paid for. Beyond describing the series as a “feature on the NLC”, there is no mention that it is advertorial. Listeners, who know the slot as a news feature, could easily confuse this with normal programming.

Gwala introduces the interview with Mampane saying: “For the next five weeks we will be talking money, money, money…today we start a feature in which we will focus on the National Lottery.” The issue of alleged corruption is not raised with Mampane.

NLC executives have also been interviewed on Power 98.7 and Newzroom Afrika, with accompanying branded social media posts on both media houses’ social media platforms.

In the current era of cash-strapped newsrooms, where it is extremely hard for publications to break even, it would be a brave editor who risks losing income by running critical reports of a large advertiser. The NLC executives must realise this.


Raymond Joseph has written many articles exposing dodgy NLC deals. Joseph is a journalist, a journalism trainer and a media consultant. A media junkie, both old & new, he lives in Cape Town but works wherever the job takes him.

Views expressed are not necessarily GroundUp’s or The Media Online’s.


GroundUp is being sued after we exposed dodgy Lottery deals involving millions of rands. Please help fund our defence. You can support us via Givengain, Snapscan, EFT, PayPal or PayFast.

© 2019 GroundUp. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.


Tags: corruptionGroundUp NewslotteryLottoMail & GuardianNational Lotteries CommissionNewzroom AfrikaPOWER FMRaymond JosephSABCSAfm

Raymond Joseph

Raymond Joseph is an ICFJ Knight Fellow and is working to help embed a culture of data-driven journalism and storytelling in South African newsrooms. He has worked for mainstream, community and tabloids in senior editorial positions. He has also consulted on start-ups and the editorial side of newspapers, including restructuring of news desks, newsrooms and content. Joseph has made the transition front print-only to multimedia and data journalism and is also involved in GroundSource, a news and engagement start-up that uses SMS to reach and engage with hard-to-reach communities that do not have access to smartphone or internet. You can follow him on Twitter where he tweets as @rayjoe

Follow Us

  • twitter
  • threads
  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Kelders van Geheime: The characters are here

Kelders van Geheime: The characters are here

March 22, 2024
Dissecting the LSM 7-10 market

Dissecting the LSM 7-10 market

May 17, 2023
Keri Miller sets the record straight after being axed from ECR

Keri Miller sets the record straight after being axed from ECR

April 23, 2023
Getting to know the ES SEMs 8-10 (Part 1)

Getting to know the ES SEMs 8-10 (Part 1)

February 22, 2018
Sowetan proves that sex still sells

Sowetan proves that sex still sells

105
It’s black. It’s beautiful. It’s ours.

Exclusive: Haffajee draws a line in the sand over racism

98
The Property Magazine and Media Nova go supernova

The Property Magazine and Media Nova go supernova

44
Warrant of arrest authorised for Media Nova’s Vaughan

Warrant of arrest authorised for Media Nova’s Vaughan

41
Navigating the AI tide without losing our humanity

Navigating the AI tide without losing our humanity

May 29, 2025
 Auditing masterclass lifts the lid on hidden costs

 Auditing masterclass lifts the lid on hidden costs

May 29, 2025
Celeb vs. nano influencers: What SA brands need to know

Celeb vs. nano influencers: What SA brands need to know

May 28, 2025
When brand promises fail … but the till keeps ringing

When brand promises fail … but the till keeps ringing

May 28, 2025

Recent News

Navigating the AI tide without losing our humanity

Navigating the AI tide without losing our humanity

May 29, 2025
 Auditing masterclass lifts the lid on hidden costs

 Auditing masterclass lifts the lid on hidden costs

May 29, 2025
Celeb vs. nano influencers: What SA brands need to know

Celeb vs. nano influencers: What SA brands need to know

May 28, 2025
When brand promises fail … but the till keeps ringing

When brand promises fail … but the till keeps ringing

May 28, 2025

ABOUT US

The Media Online is the definitive online point of reference for South Africa’s media industry offering relevant, focused and topical news on the media sector. We deliver up-to-date industry insights, guest columns, case studies, content from local and global contributors, news, views and interviews on a daily basis as well as providing an online home for The Media magazine’s content, which is posted on a monthly basis.

Follow Us

  • twitter
  • threads

ARENA HOLDING

Editor: Glenda Nevill
glenda.nevill@cybersmart.co.za
Sales and Advertising:
Tarin-Lee Watts
wattst@arena.africa
Download our rate card

OUR NETWORK

TimesLIVE
Sunday Times
SowetanLIVE
BusinessLIVE
Business Day
Financial Mail
HeraldLIVE
DispatchLIVE
Wanted Online
SA Home Owner
Business Media MAGS
Arena Events

NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIPTION

 
Subscribe
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

Copyright © 2015 - 2023 The Media Online. All rights reserved. Part of Arena Holdings (Pty) Ltd

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • MOST Awards
  • News
    • Awards
    • Media Mecca
  • Print
    • Newspapers
    • Magazines
    • Publishing
  • Broadcasting
    • TV
    • Radio
    • Cinema
    • Video
  • Digital
    • Mobile
    • Online
  • Agencies
    • Advertising
    • Media agency
    • Public Relations
  • OOH
    • Events
  • Research & Education
    • Research
    • Media Education
      • Media Mentor
  • Press Office
    • Press Office
    • TMO.Live Blog
    • Events
    • Jobs

Copyright © 2015 - 2023 The Media Online. All rights reserved. Part of Arena Holdings (Pty) Ltd

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?