Eish, R21 Million Later…
Lotto scandal unravels in Rustenburg
Rustenburg – On 31 July 2025, the Special Tribunal delivered a landmark judgment, ordering former National Lotteries Commission (NLC) board member advocate William Elias Huma to cough up R21,158,118.00 in misused Lotto grants — finally a sign that justice might just arrive, even if it’s fashionably late.
The R21 Million Mess
The Tribunal declared two massive grants unlawful:
- R16.5 million to the Samaritan Initiative NPO (supposedly for a chicken-farming project in Marikana), and
- R4.658 million to Reagile NPC (run by Huma’s wife and nephew).
Instead of community upliftment, the funds ended up in Silverlite Trading, later controlled by Huma. And the chicken farm? Left to rot. No eggs. No benefits. Only broken promises.
Assets Frozen
— Recovery Underway
To make sure someone actually pays attention to the ruling, the SIU preserved:
- R10 million from the sale of Huma’s Waterkloof property,
- Farm Zwartkoppies 296 in North West, and
- A boutique hotel in Rustenburg.
These will be auctioned off — with proceeds finally going back into real community projects, not private pockets.
“Corruption Kills,”
says Judge — and she’s not kidding
Judge Margie Victor didn’t mince words — quoting Navi Pillay: “Corruption kills. The money stolen through corruption every year is enough to feed the world’s hungry?80 times over.” She slammed Huma’s behaviour as “egregious, negligent, and dishonest,” pointing out that as a legally trained person, he clearly knew better.
Just the Start
— more grime to cleanup
This is the first judgment in the NLC grant scandal — but not the last. The SIU has filed 18 more review applications totalling over R320 million in questionable funding. Much more loot to chase back yet.
Why It Matters to Rustenburg (and SA)
Communities like Marikana were promised upliftment. Instead, all they got was talk — and a dilapidated chicken farm. Now, at least, there’s a glimmer of accountability. For now, communities like Marikana can only shake their heads and wonder: how many more “upliftment projects” ended up uplifting no one but the insiders?
