Minstrel funds go missing

R27.3M LOTTERY GRANT WENT TO A MUSEUM THAT REPORT SAYS 'NEVER EXISTED'

- Raymond Joseph

A leaked forensic report has revealed how millions of rands granted to the Cape Town Minstrel Carnival Association (CTMCA) by the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) to set up a museum to celebrate the city's rich minstrel history went astray.

The museum was never created.

The investigative report was commissioned by the NLC in 2021. The museum grant was part of more than R64 million in lottery funds allocated to the CTMCA from 2003 to 2017.

The first part of the investigation by law firm Dabishi Nthambeleni was conducted between September 2020 and January 2021 and focused on a R27.3 million grant to the CTMCA in 2014, which included funding for the museum.

The approved budget for the museum was more than R12.8 million, with R5 million of that allocated for a building to house the museum.

The NLC tasked Dabishi Nthambeleni to investigate the purchase of a building for the museum and whether the museum "actually existed".

The firm was also instructed to investigate:

The purchase with lottery funds of two vehicles - a 60-seater bus and a 23-seater bus - for R2.4 million; and

Various machines purchased for the manufacturing of the costumes and hats" for the minstrels carnival, for R5.4 million.

At the time, convicted criminal Richard "Pot" Stemmet was director of the CTMCA.