An old age home in eDumbe, KwaZulu-Natal, which has received over R36.8 million in funding from the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) since 2017, remains unfinished nearly nine years later. The project has come under the scrutiny of the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) due to allegations of financial mismanagement, particularly concerning payments made to a questionable construction company, Ubusu, which pocketed nearly R24 million over the years without delivering the promised outcomes.

In a further twist, after the initial contractor left the project incomplete in 2021, the NLC turned to another contractor, Lerumo Properties, to complete the work by disbursing an additional R13 million. However, despite this substantial investment of taxpayers' money, the condition of the site remains dire, and there are no indications of a completion timeline, raising concerns about the effective use of lottery funds intended for community development.

The ongoing investigation by the SIU highlights the troubling issue of accountability in public spending and the need for greater oversight in projects funded by the lotteries. This situation not only affects the planned beneficiaries of the old age home but also raises broader questions about the efficacy of financial governance and the possibility of fraud in such community-focused initiatives.