The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) notes the latest report on the investigation by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) into corruption at the National Lotteries Commission (NLC), which implicates Sunday Times editor and SANEF head Makhudu Sefara.
The latest SIU findings reveal that R3.2 million has now been recovered from entities that unduly benefited from National Lottery funds through fraudulent and corrupt schemes disguised as developmental projects. Todi Media Development Foundation NPC received an NLC grant of R1.5 million in 2018 for a media development project however the funds were diverted into private entities and personal enrichment schemes.
The SIU specifically found that R550,000 was paid to Unscripted Communication, a company solely directed by Sunday Times editor and SANEF chairperson Makhudu Sefara. A separate entity, Zibsiflo NPC, received R1.71 million between 2019 and 2020 for women’s soccer clinics in the Free State. The project was never implemented, and the funds were instead diverted into private pockets and property acquisitions. These revelations that Sunday Times editor and SANEF chairperson Makhudu Sefara’s company allegedly received diverted Lottery funds confirms what the EFF has consistently maintained for years: that sections of the South African media are deeply compromised because they are materially linked to political patronage networks and corrupt state-connected funding streams.
It also exposes the broader rot that exists within institutions that posture as defenders of accountability while benefiting from corruption themselves. The EFF has long warned South Africans that many within the media establishment are not neutral arbiters of truth, but active participants in patronage systems that influence editorial agendas, political narratives, and public discourse in favour of the establishment.
The Sunday Times in particular has over many years positioned itself as a crusader against corruption and an uncompromising defender of ethical journalism. The revelation that its editor is linked to diverted Lottery funds fundamentally compromises the credibility of the publication and raises serious questions about the editorial integrity, political agenda, and financial relationships that underpin its operations.
The Sunday Times owes the public a full explanation regarding the nature of these payments, the relationship between its editor and entities implicated in Lottery corruption, and whether this compromised relationship influenced editorial conduct or political positioning. We, therefore, note their placement of Sefara on leave and the institution of an independent investigation by Arena Holdings.
This scandal further vindicates the EFF’s long-standing opposition to the politically compromised management and awarding of National Lottery licences. We explicitly warned President Cyril Ramaphosa and the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition against awarding the latest Lottery licence to politically connected ANC- aligned interests because we understood that the National Lottery has become a centre of corruption, patronage, and political accumulation for connected elites.
Our warnings were ignored because the ANC has transformed state institutions into instruments of extraction and enrichment for those loyal to its political project. The result is that the National Lottery, which should serve as a vehicle for social upliftment and developmental support for poor communities, has instead become a feeding trough for corrupt politicians, business cronies, middlemen, and media figures.
While millions of South Africans remain trapped in poverty, unemployment, collapsing healthcare systems, and underfunded social programmes, billions meant for community development have been diverted into luxury lifestyles, fraudulent NGOs, and private businesses. This is theft from the poor, disabled people, struggling youth organisations, women’s shelters, sports development programmes, rural communities, and countless organisations that desperately rely on Lottery funding for survival.
The EFF has been vocal about the need for transparency in government dealings.
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