Bonakele appointed chair of lottery commission board

National Lottery Commission (NLC) board member King Tembinkosi Bonakele has been appointed as chair of the board.

He replaces Barney Pityana, who resigned in last July with two years of his five-year term remaining. Pityana agreed to remain in office until his successor was appointed.

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In another appointment, Mpho Mosing, one of three people shortlisted for the position of chair, has been appointed to the board.

Their appointments were announced in a cabinet statement issued by The Presidency on Friday.

Bonakele and Mosing emerged from interviews as two of the top three of six candidates after parliament’s trade, industry and competition portfolio committee whittled down a list of 22.

Bonakele has been a lawyer for 18 years, nine of which he served as a Competition Commission of South Africa commissioner. He also holds an MBA.

Mosing is a former chair of the audit and risk committee of the State Diamonds Trader and a former member of the Gauteng Liquor Board’s commission of inquiry into fraud and governance controls.

Smoother process this time around

The shortlist of candidates was submitted to Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Parks Tau in April after it was approved by parliament.

The 2022 interview process, through which Pityana was ultimately appointed chair, was an acrimonious stop-start process with long delays. It regularly degenerated into a war of words between the ANC and the DA.

It was also beset with litigation and acrimony as relations between then-minister Ebrahim Patel and the NLC board soured.

An MP involved in the latest deliberations described them as “collegial”.

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