SA is regressing on the advancements in female leadership and localisation
The year 2015 marked a seismic shift in the story of South African enterprise. The then appointed Lottery Operator, was the first to be owned and led by a woman. That was a big moment. As a Black female entrepreneur committed to telling Africa's story through its people, its victories, and its integrity, I saw this as more than a business win — it was a symbol of what transformation should look like in South Africa.
This leadership didn't just check boxes on a scorecard; it embodied the spirit of empowerment. The visionary headship of the black-woman-led operator steered the National Lottery into a new era defined by innovation, local technological excellence, and profound social impact. Today, that legacy is under threat. The recent appointment of Sizekhaya Holdings as the fourth National Lottery operator is not just disappointing, it is deeply troubling. It challenges the integrity of our procurement processes, undermines genuine gender empowerment, and raises pressing questions about foreign influence and compromised leadership.
As Africans, we have long fought to reclaim our narrative. But reclaiming is not enough. We must now protect and own it — and that means ensuring that Africa's progress is authored by its own people. That means calling out tokenism when it disguises itself as transformation. It was disheartening to observe Sizekhaya Holdings' leadership structure seems to be a step backwards. While four women are listed in leadership positions, only two hold executive roles.
The others are non-executive directors – titles that sound impressive but wield limited operational power. This performative inclusion dilutes the very progress women like Charmaine Mabuza made. Even more concerning are the glaring red flags surrounding the bidding process itself. How can we discuss a 'clean' tender when key members of the evaluation committee have direct ties to Sizekhaya's major shareholder, Goldrush?
One committee member has financial interests linked to the same bidder. These are not mere oversights; they are breaches of trust that demand our immediate attention. Trust is the bedrock of any public institution. Instead of silence from the Ministry, we need transparency. We need accountability. The technology behind the new operator raises serious concerns. Why are we outsourcing such a critical national system to Genlot, a Chinese firm, when it has been proven that we have local capacity to deliver world-class innovation? This isn't just about software – it's about sovereignty. Almost half the National Lottery's revenue could now flow offshore. Is that the cost of ignoring local excellence that we are willing to pay as a nation? As a woman who has built from the ground up, I understand the power of being given a chance — but also the responsibility to honour that opportunity with service, not self-interest. The National Lottery is more than a contract. It is a vehicle for transformation, one that impacts millions of lives. We cannot afford to politicise it or hand it over to interests that do not serve the public good. This moment demands more than frustration. It demands action.
The question South Africa must ask is this: Whose interests are we serving now? Because if we do not champion local excellence, we are handing our power away on a silver platter, and history has shown us how that ends. The National Lottery should remain a symbol of our ability to uplift ourselves, not a cautionary tale of how easily progress can be reversed. South Africa is not for sale. And neither is our story.
Jabulile Buthelezi - Kalonji is a strategic communications and stakeholder relations management professional, public speaker, author and publisher.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
IOL News
5 hours ago
- IOL News
Trump's white South African resettlement plan and the global colour line
The narrative that white South Africans are victims of racial persecution has long circulated in far-right echo chambers, sustained by groups like AfriForum and amplified by conservative US media. Yet no credible human rights body has substantiated claims of systematic violence or oppression based on race in South Africa. Image: File/X THE arrival of over 3 000 white South Africans in the United States under President Donald Trump's fast-tracked refugee resettlement programme is a racial spectacle of historic proportions. Framed by Trump as a rescue mission from 'racial discrimination' and even 'genocide' in post-apartheid South Africa, the scheme repackages whiteness as victimhood while reasserting racial hierarchies through the veneer of humanitarian concern. Cheryl Harris's seminal concept of 'whiteness as property' is especially instructive here. This programme protects not the displaced, but the entitlements embedded in whiteness — land, social status, and the right to global mobility. These arrivals, facilitated under a controversial executive order, mark the first time in US history that white South Africans have been accepted en masse as refugees. The move has drawn intense scrutiny, with South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola dismissing the claims as 'unfounded and inflammatory'. He clarified that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had no involvement and had consistently found no basis for refugee status for white South Africans. 'The resettlement of South Africans under the guise of being 'refugees' is a political project to delegitimise our democracy,' Lamola asserted. The narrative that white South Africans — particularly Afrikaner farmers — are victims of racial persecution has long circulated in far-right echo chambers, sustained by groups like AfriForum and amplified by conservative US media. Yet no credible human rights body has substantiated claims of systematic violence or oppression based on race in South Africa. In February 2025, Trump signed Executive Order 14152: Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa, suspending non-essential aid. He cited South Africa's land reform policies and its support for Palestine at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as evidence of 'anti-white discrimination'. His language echoed apartheid-era rhetoric, framing land expropriation without compensation — a constitutional measure designed to redress historical injustice — as proof of racial targeting. This is not a story about humanitarian rescue. It is about the repackaging of privilege as persecution. Trump's administration, by reclassifying specific 'South African communities' for humanitarian parole, has revived the settler-native divide. As Mahmood Mamdani has noted, this manoeuvre casts descendants of apartheid's beneficiaries as 'refugees' and South Africa itself as the oppressor. Achille Mbembe's critique of global humanism is relevant here: the programme renders Black suffering invisible while privileging whiteness as a passport to refuge and legitimacy. Consequently, while Black refugees languish in camps, whiteness is deemed inherently worthy of protection, effectively enacting a form of apartheid within the asylum system itself. The 1951 Refugee Convention defines a refugee as someone fleeing a 'well-founded fear of persecution.' Neither the Convention nor US law has ever interpreted this to include the loss of economic dominance or historical privilege. Fleeing land redistribution or reduced social status does not amount to persecution, especially when these changes are legally enacted by a democratic society seeking to correct historical wrongs. The parallels to earlier racial engineering are striking. In 1932, the US-sponsored *Carnegie Poor White Study* analysed the 'problem' of poor whites in South Africa. The initiative was not rooted in concern for poverty but in preserving white supremacy. The report warned that poor whites threatened the racial order and recommended state interventions to uplift them, while black South Africans were systematically excluded from similar support. This laid the foundation for apartheid's white welfare state and established a pattern of American intervention when white South Africans faced hardship, real or perceived. Trump's resettlement scheme is the 21st-century iteration of this pattern. White South Africans are framed not as beneficiaries of a violent racial order, but as victims of transformation, worthy of rescue. South Africa's Constitutional Court recently affirmed that acquiring foreign nationality — whether through refugee resettlement or otherwise — does not automatically strip someone of South African citizenship. In a landmark ruling, the Court struck down a section of the Citizenship Act that had quietly revoked citizenship without due process, calling the move irrational and unconstitutional. However, the case of these white South Africans is unique. Their refugee claims are based on false premises and a political agenda. South Africa may therefore have grounds to argue that accepting the US offer constitutes a voluntary renunciation of citizenship. The Constitutional Court's ruling on dual citizenship might not protect them in this politically charged context. Nowhere is the hypocrisy more glaring than in the American South. In the Mississippi Delta, six Black farmworkers filed a federal lawsuit in 2021 after being replaced by white South Africans brought in under the H-2A visa programme. The plaintiffs, many descended from enslaved people who built Southern agriculture, earned just $7.25 per hour — the federal minimum wage — while their white South African replacements were paid over $11. The lawsuit alleges that these Black workers were forced to train their replacements, who were then housed in better accommodations and elevated in status simply because they were white. Between 2011 and 2020, the number of South Africans on H-2A visas increased by 441%, making them the second-largest national group in the programme. The majority are white. The message is clear: in the racial calculus of US capitalism, white foreign labour is worth more than black American lives. Mexican seasonal workers, once the backbone of US agriculture, are also increasingly excluded — both by border walls and by labour policies that privilege whiteness over need. The result is a reshuffling of the global racial order, disguised as economic necessity. Trump's South African refugee programme is less about humanitarian concern and more about reaffirming a hierarchy of global suffering, where privilege continues to mask itself as victimhood. What we are witnessing is the reinforcement of a global colour line — one where whiteness retains its claim to mobility, safety, and opportunity, while blackness and brownness are rendered threats to be contained. The implications are profound: Refugee systems that prioritise whiteness over need. Economic visas favour white foreign farmers over Black citizens. Historical privilege is purposely mistaken for victimhood. This is not humanitarianism. It is neo-colonialism in motion. As the world watches Trump engineer the next stage of global apartheid, we must ask: What kind of refugee is it when only the privileged are welcome? When does skin colour ration citizenship, safety, and opportunity? If the notion of 'refuge' is to mean anything, it must centre justice, not historical comfort. Siyayibanga le economy! * Siyabonga Hadebe is an independent commentator based in Geneva on socio-economic, political and global matters. ** The views expressed here do not reflect those of the Sunday Independent, Independent Media, or IOL.
The Citizen
6 hours ago
- The Citizen
Strengthening the Global Fight Against Corruption
Brazil, Brasilia – The 2nd G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group (ACWG) under the South African Presidency convened in Brasilia from June 9 to 12, 2025, uniting delegates to address critical issues in preventing and combating corruption. Co-Chaired by South Africa and Brazil, the meeting aimed to reinforce the Working Group's priorities to strengthen the public sector by promoting transparency, integrity, and accountability, increasing the efficiency of asset recovery measures, enhancing participation from the public sector, private sector, civil society, and academia, and improving whistleblower protection mechanisms. The South African Ambassador to Brazil, Mr. Vusi Mavimbela, delivered the opening remarks during the inaugural session. He highlighted the importance of international collaboration in the fight against corruption and stressed South Africa's dedication to advancing collective goals, stating, 'Through our G20 Presidency theme, 'Solidarity, Equality, and Sustainability', we reaffirm our commitment to advancing collective efforts toward inclusive global economic growth and sustainable development.' Brazil's Minister of State for the Office of the Comptroller General, H.E. Mr. Vinícius Marques de Carvalho, delivered the keynote address, stressing the significance of inclusive approaches in anti-corruption efforts. He underscored the complex nature of corruption, requiring diverse perspectives and expertise. H.E. Carvalho called for a multi-agency strategy, urging the involvement of civil society, academia, and the private sector in shaping effective anti-corruption policies. At the heart of the meeting were the discussions of the draft G20 High-Level Principles on the Management of Seized and Confiscated Assets. These draft principles aim to provide a framework for G20 countries to manage seized assets, closing gaps identified by the ACWG to strengthen asset recovery. The Group also considered the Zero Draft Ministerial Declaration, encapsulating the commitment of G20 countries to address corruption through prevention. This draft will be presented for adoption at the Ministerial Meeting in October 2025. In addition to the main sessions, a side event was held on measuring integrity in public procurement, exploring challenges in quantifying corruption, and the necessity for evidence-based methodologies, co-hosted by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The UNDP informed that it is establishing a framework for measuring integrity, collecting data from 60 countries by the end of 2025. This initiative aims to provide objective tools to gauge the effectiveness of anti-corruption measures. Another side event was held to address the preventive dimension in the fight against corruption and new forms of organised crime, co-hosted by EL PACTO 2.0, a partnership with the European Union focused on justice and security. The G20 ACWG and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Working Group on Bribery held a joint meeting aimed at supporting the shared commitment to combating the bribery of foreign public officials in international transactions. The 2nd G20 ACWG l Meeting provided an opportunity for delegates to exchange views, share experiences, and deepen their understanding of the evolving challenges and opportunities in the fight against corruption through the lens of the Presidency's theme of solidarity, equality, and sustainability. The Working Group acknowledged that there remains considerable work ahead to fully realise the deliverables committed to at the start of the year, including timely responses to the questionnaires, substantive inputs toward the draft Ministerial Declaration, and the High-Level Principles on the Management of Seized and Confiscated Assets. Through these efforts, the G20 seeks to instil confidence in its commitment to combating corruption and promoting sustainable development, ensuring a brighter future for all. As South Africa and Brazil lead this charge, the hope is that the momentum generated from this meeting will translate into tangible actions that resonate beyond borders, creating a global environment where corruption has no place. At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
eNCA
7 hours ago
- eNCA
First batch of SANDF troops from DRC land in Pretoria
PRETORIA - Two hundred and forty nine SANDF soldiers landed at Air Force Base Waterkloof in Pretoria on Friday night. These troops are the first batch of South African soldiers returning from the DRC. Initially the group was supposed to land at the Air Force Base Bloemspruit in Bloemfontein where Defence Minister, Angie Motshekga, and others were awaiting their arrival but this was changed. The troops were deployed as part of a Southern African Development Community force called SAMIDRC. Fourteen SA soldiers were killed in January as M23 rebels pushed towards the East of DRC and later the mission was aborted. Since the end of April troops have been withdrawing from the DRC using trucks to travel overland. The withdrawal had a number of challenges including logistical delays due to the heavy equipment that had to be moved from their base near Goma. The SANDF said just over 30 trucks had to transport SA Military equipment from Goma to Tanzania. Other heavy equipment were transported through the Dar es Salaam port to South Africa.
