First they blew the lottery out of operation, now the good folks at the National Lottery Board have awarded themselves R1,3million in bonuses for their efforts this past year.

First they blew the lottery out of operation, now the good folks at the National Lottery Board have awarded themselves R1,3million in bonuses for their efforts this past year.

Yet their organisation is so chaotic they haven't even started implementing a performance appraisal system, says the DA, which blew the whistle on their light-fingered shenanigans.

Sounds like a great job: fail spectacularly at what you're paid to do, ensure there are no objective means to judge your performance, then award yourself a fat cheque.

Who cares? The taxpayer picks up your bill.

The charities that nominally benefit from the national lottery's irregular hand-outs might be panicking now that the board's incompetence has shut Lotto down since March.

So what? Hand them a bonus.

No word yet from the minister on when the lottery will be reinstated.

Sorry. Why reward them for just doing their job?

When will our fat-cat civil servants learn that guzzling at the public trough robs the needy of desperately needed services as directly as a pension pay-point heist.

Basic needs such as water, education, medicine and even the pitiful grants to the destitute will remain distant luxuries for too many South Africans as long as the political elite and their cronies continue to rob the public purse without conscience.