Building trust at the National Lotteries Commission

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A new era for the National Lotteries Commission has started with the appointment of Tembinkosi Bonakele as Chairperson. Leadership spoke to the highly skilled and experienced leader about his new role, the type of leadership he will bring, and what he hopes to achieve during his tenure.

Tembinkosi Bonakele, Chairperson of the National Lotteries Commission Board, has long wanted to contribute to public service, and that motivation has helped shape his career, from the Com-petition Commission to the boards he has served on.

He has been a member of the NLC Board since 2023, so he knows the institution, its people, and the importance of its work.

When the opportunity to chair the Board be-came available, he saw a chance to bring his experience in governance, strategy, and institu-tion-building to a place where it could make a real difference.

It is a responsibility which he takes seri-ously, and one which he accepted with a clear sense of what is expected - and he is ready to tackle his 150 days in office.

“A hundred and fifty days is short, so I am being realistic: it is about laying foundations. I want to listen to the Board, management, staff, and the people the NLC serves. I want to align the Board around a clear, shared agenda, strengthen governance and oversight so that processes are sound and consistent, and set pri-orities that make the NLC's impact on good causes more visible. By the end of that period, I want the institution to have clarity on direc-tion, with the Board and management working as one team,” he explains.

What excites him about this new chapter in his career is the purpose behind the role, with support for real projects and real people in communities a big factor for him.

“I believe my biggest contribution can be in governance and strategy: helping the Board give clear direction and strong oversight, so the organisation can deliver efficiently and in a way people can see and feel. Having built and led a public institution, I know how much dif-ference a focused, well-run organisation makes,” he continues.

Building trust

Public confidence is something every public institution has to keep earning.

For Bonakele, trust is built through consist-ent action rather than statements. That entails transparent and fair decision-making, clear communication with applicants, beneficiaries, and the public, strong Board oversight, and a visible focus on delivering for good causes.

“The lesson I have taken from leading a pub-lic institution is that trust comes from consist-ency. People trust you when your decisions fol-low clear processes, when you explain the reasons for them, when you engage stakehold-ers honestly, and when you do what you said you would do. It is built slowly, through many small actions, and it is protected by being open and fair every day,” he insists.

In order for that trust to be maintained and filtered down to all stakeholders, Bonakele says that he has one request for all those who he will be working alongside at the National Lotteries Commission.

“My one request is that we work as one team, with honesty, open communication, and a shared commitment to the mandate. A Board and a Commission that trust one an-other, speak frankly, and hold each other ac-countable can achieve a great deal. If we keep our focus on the people we serve, success will follow.”

Experience, challenges, and goals

As a highly skilled individual in the public policy and competition law fields, Bonakele brings with him a wealth of experience which will be vital to the National Lotteries Commis-sion cause.

On how that experience will help him in his new role, Bonakele explains: “Competition law taught me how institutions and markets work: clear rules, fair processes, decisions based on evidence, and attention to the public interest. Those principles translate directly. The credib-ility of any regulator or public body depends on fairness, consistency, and transparency. My experience advising government on economic policy and accounting to Parliament will also help the Board engage the NLC's stakeholders

and keep its work aligned with the country's broader development goals."

Despite being armed with expertise and ex-perience, there will inevitably be challenges.

When it comes to dealing with said chal-lenges, Bonakele is one to stay calm, focus on the problem, rely on good people, and keep communicating.

“In my years at the Competition Commission I led through complex and demanding situ-ations, and what helped most was clear priorit-ies, a willingness to listen and consult before deciding, and steadiness. In difficult times people look to leadership for clarity and calm, and I try to provide both while keeping the big-ger purpose in view. Those habits apply equally to chairing a board,” he shares.

While it is still early on in his National Lot-teries Commission journey, Bonakele has clear goals for when his tenure comes to an end, with the overarching goal being leaving a stronger institution than which he found.

“I would like to leave a stronger institution: one with sound governance, a capable team, and the confidence of the public, so that it keeps delivering for good causes long after my term. Individuals come and go, but institutions endure. If the NLC is better run, better trusted, and more impactful when I leave than when I arrived, I will consider my time a success.”

A leadership stalwart

Bonakele sees himself as a collaborative, hands-on leader who values clarity, systematic work, and teamwork. His journey started as a student leader - SRC President at Fort Hare, then as a lawyer, a divisional manager, a Deputy Com-missioner and then Commissioner, and now a board chair.

Along the way, Bonakele has moved from do-ing the work himself to enabling others by at-tracting capable people, giving them direction and trust, and holding them to account.

In terms of the leadership lessons he has learned along the way, three stand out for him.

“First, surround yourself with capable people and trust them to do their work. Second, be clear about purpose and priorities, because or-ganisations lose energy when they try to do everything. Third, communicate consistently and honestly with all your stakeholders. I would add that institutions are built, not de-clared: systems, policies, and culture matter as much as any individual,” he shares.

“Integrity, vision, skill, and energy all matter, but they depend on whether people can trust you. A leader whose words and actions line up earns the confidence needed to take people through difficult times and to make decisions that others will accept, even when they dis-agree with them.”

Bonakele is also a big believer in mentorship, with the philosophy of 'lifting as you rise' im-portant to him.

That stance is one of the reasons why he teaches as an Adjunct Professor of Practice at Wits and Nelson Mandela University and lec-tures on competition law and leadership.

“Like most people, I have benefited from oth-ers who invested in me, and passing that on is part of leading. Strong leaders do not appear by accident; they are developed through guidance, opportunity, and the space to learn from mis-takes,” he says.

And we hope more leaders will take those wise words to heart.

What excites him about this new chapter in his career is the purpose behind the role

Tembinkosi Bonakele as Chairperson