Latest news with #NationalLotteriesCommission
IOL News
3 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
SA faces lottery blackout after Pretoria High Court dismisses Ithuba bid
The future of the national lottery remains unclear after the Pretoria High Court rejected an extension for Ithuba. Image: Supplied South Africa may face a brief lottery blackout after the Pretoria High Court dismissed the National Lotteries Commission's urgent application to appoint Ithuba as a temporary operator beyond its May 31 license expiry. On Thursday, IOL News reported that Ithuba, the outgoing operator, is considering the legal implications of Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Parks Tau's decision to award the next operating license to Sizakhaya Holdings. Ithuba said the decision disregards the progress it has made in building a home-grown lottery ecosystem that supports small businesses, drives local job creation and maximises revenue for good causes. In a statement released on Wednesday, Ithuba expressed deep disappointment, saying the decision undermines the principles of localisation and inclusive economic growth outlined in the Request for Proposal. As a fully South African-owned and Black-empowered company, Ithuba has invested significantly in developing the first African Central Lottery System, owned and developed by South Africans for Africa. 'Ithuba Holdings has the necessary infrastructure, financial resources and distribution systems to deliver a seamless, secure and uninterrupted National Lottery,' said Michelle van Trotsenburg, Ithuba's head of marketing and corporate affairs. 'Our game portfolio is locally developed, our operational model prioritizes economic inclusion, and our reach extends across urban and rural communities, ensuring accessibility for all South Africans from day one.' Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ However, Judge Omphemetse Mooki said the commission 'over-egged the pudding' in its application. 'Its claim on reserves is based on there being no operator of the lottery for a period of 12 months,' Mooki said. 'It would be a surprise to the court that the minister is unable to appoint an operator, on a temporary basis, for a whole year.' He added that Tau has broader discretion when appointing a temporary operator compared to a fully licensed one. 'I do not accept that the sky will fall after June 2025 should Ithuba Holdings refuse to sign an agreement to conduct lottery operations as determined in the order of May 21, 2025,' he said. Mooki also said that Tau's affidavit in support of the application lacked substance. 'The relief being sought engages a power which the court is to exercise very sparingly,' he said. 'The commission has not made out a case for the relief it seeks.' Mooki ruled that the application was urgent, but ultimately dismissed it. Both the applicant, the National Lotteries Commission and the first respondent were ordered to pay legal costs, including the costs of three counsel. IOL News
Daily Maverick
4 days ago
- Business
- Daily Maverick
After the Bell: Why we shouldn't have a national lottery
The main reason we have a national lottery in the first place is that it is supposed to be a good way to finance public goods, a way of getting money to finance things our society should have. But we know that this did not happen while the previous board of the National Lotteries Commission was in charge. Instead, they spent it on their friends and, in some cases, themselves. Sometimes something becomes so much a fact of life that it is easy to forget to question it. I was thinking about that yesterday when the Stock Exchange News Service published an update from Goldrush. It has, quite literally, won the National Lottery. Sizekhaya has been awarded the licence to operate the Fourth National Lottery and Sports Pools for South Africa for eight years, with the licence kicking in on or before 1 June next year. Goldrush is a 50% shareholder in Sizekhaya. Sizekhaya, the official name of the consortium, will make a huge amount of money as a result. The entire company, and those who own it, will change dramatically now. At the same time, given that the stakes involved are so high, it was always inevitable that the losing bidder would go to court. And while Ithuba, the former operator, has not said it will do that yet, it has muttered about consulting its legal team on the decision. I do wonder if the minister who had to make this decision – Parks Tau at the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition – might regret one part of his public statement on this. He suggested that it was a 'difficult' decision. At some point, one of the parties might well ask for the record of the decision, and ask him what made it quite so difficult. Considering that the smell of politics was around this entire process almost from the beginning, he might well be asked if it was technically difficult, or politically difficult. But I think this obscures a much more important question. I don't think we should have a national lottery. I think it does us harm as a society. Firstly, so many people spend so much money on it and receive nothing in return. Let me be clear, the chances of winning the main payout are literally nothing. Not mathematically nothing. One in over 20 million to be more precise. But in real life, that's nothing. And look at who is losing their money; so often it's people who desperately need all the money they have. Funnily enough, even most of the people who do win actually don't end up having better lives as a result. Both here and in places such as the UK, the stories of people who win the lottery involve the end of marriages, families and, in some cases, whole communities. The main reason we have a national lottery in the first place is that it is supposed to be a good way to finance public goods, a way of getting money to finance things our society should have. But thanks to the incredibly courageous journalism of Raymond Joseph (who has won multiple awards for his work), we know that this did not happen while the previous board of the National Lotteries Commission was in charge. Instead, they spent it on their friends and, in some cases, themselves. The first bad sign was when the National Lotteries Commission decided that instead of people applying for lottery funding, they would literally go and find organisations and give them money. You don't need a picture book to know what happened next. And it was so brazen. I remember asking the Chief Operating Officer at the time, Philemon Ledwaba, how he could justify his organisation giving money to a group run by his wife. It was on live TV. And he showed a complete lack of conscience about it. It was literally extraordinary. Now, I'm sure defenders of the national lottery will say safeguards can be put in place to stop this from happening again. And no one can say anything negative about the people who currently run the National Lotteries Commission, they're top people and they're trying to clean it up. But the chances of it happening again are, I would suggest, a lot higher than one in 20 million. In fact, given what happens around us so often, I would almost put money on it happening again in the next 15 years. However, I don't think that's the strongest argument against a lottery. I think the strongest argument against it is that it legitimises gambling. Now, I'm lucky, gambling has no interest for me. Once, Sun City gave me some gambling chips as a teenager — they could only be used in the casino and could not be exchanged directly for cash. Being boring, I didn't gamble with them. Instead, I put half on the red and half on the black at the (non-Russian) roulette table. That meant I ended up with what I started with. But in chips that could be exchanged for cash, and off I went. I know for some people, I think many people, it's not like that. They love gambling, the thrill of it, the (mathematically tiny) chance that their lives could suddenly change. We are seeing this happening now in the incredible rise of online gambling. I have no doubt that this will lead to more poverty, the ruin of more families and, even perhaps, some awful suicides.
TimesLIVE
14-05-2025
- Business
- TimesLIVE
National Lotteries Commission extends application period to May 30
The National Lotteries Commission (NLC) has extended the 2024/25 call for applications to May 30. The current application window, which originally opened on December 2 2024, was previously extended from the initial deadline of March 31 to May 16 and now to May 30 to ensure greater participation by civil society organisations. It said organisations that had already registered and intended to register their profiles on the NLC's Thuthuka online system were still encouraged to complete their registration and proceed with the application process. 'We humbly apologise for the challenges experienced by many applicants on the Thuthuka online system, and in keeping with our commitment to fairness, accessibility and public accountability, the NLC will continue implementing urgent support measures such as help desk sessions in provinces,' said NLC commissioner Jodi Scholtz. These support measures will include personalised continuous communication and the targeted education and awareness sessions to ensure that no deserving organisation was excluded. The NLC said it was committed to contacting all organisations already in the system to assist in resolving outstanding issues, ensuring they were given a fair opportunity to complete their applications. 'All prospective grant applicants must ensure that their board of directors are verified and fully compliant with the department of social development for NPOs and the Companies Intellectual Property Commission's database records for NPCs. 'The registered organisations with at least 50% of their directors verified may submit their applications before May 30 2025,' said Scholtz. The NLC said it was imperative that 100% directors' verification, including mandatory documents, was complete before any grant agreement could be accepted. 'No grant agreement will be signed unless all directors are fully verified.'
Eyewitness News
13-05-2025
- Business
- Eyewitness News
AG concerned about NLC's handling of grant funding
CAPE TOWN - The auditor-general (AG) says it remains concerned about the way in which the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) handles grant funding, despite slight improvements in its audit outcome over 2024. On Tuesday, the office told Parliament's Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) that grant beneficiaries had also been found wanting and unable to properly account for how they'd spent the money they'd received. The AG's office has flagged three material irregularities worth R46 million for this financial year. These include a failed sports complex project in Soweto and the incomplete construction of an old-age home in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The NLC has received two successive years of qualified audits. The AG's office said its own site visits had confirmed that the location of the intended Motheo sports complex in Soweto, for which the NLC paid out R6 million of a R9 million grant, was being used as a dumpsite. Senior audit manager, Aphendule Matiyane, said the commission was failing to conduct proper feasibility studies for projects that were applying for funding. "We also noted that the monitoring processes were haphazard and didn't cover the entire value chain and the processes." The AG's office has also found that the contractor for a R26 million old age home in KZN abandoned the partially constructed structure, which showed building defects. "In circumstances around infrastructure projects, they did not have the right skills and the capacity to be able to make those assessments." The projects are already under investigation by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).
News24
08-05-2025
- Health
- News24
Lotteries commission looks set to plug funding gap after US aid cuts to SA HIV programmes
The National Lotteries Commission and the private sector look set to fill the funding gap in the health sector, particularly for HIV and TB programmes. This comes after US President Donald Trump cut funding to South Africa's health programmes. Deputy President Paul Mashatile has told the National Assembly talks have already begun. To fill the funding gap left by US President Donald Trump's decision to cut aid to fund HIV programmes, the government is looking towards the National Lotteries Commission and the private sector. Deputy President Paul Mashatile told the National Assembly on Thursday there were moves to fill the health gaps in the country. He was answering questions from MPs on a range of issues affecting the country. 'Based on the analysis of the extent of the impact of the reduced financial support, a team led by the director-general of health is already in talks with National Treasury to discuss funding options. In addition, the South African National Aids Council (SANAC) has approached the National Lotteries Commission and the SANAC Private Sector Forum to garner further funding support. 'The National Lotteries Commission has submitted a funding application for what they call the Close the Gap HIV treatment campaign and end TB campaign, which is being considered by its discretionary emergency funding. We are hopeful that all these resource mobilisation efforts will yield positive results as we cannot afford to have service delivery gaps in relation to health programmes, particularly those focusing on HIV and TB,' Mashatile told MPs. The South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) are the only entities reporting to the Ministry of Health that received funding from the United States President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar). The SAMRC was awarded a US$45.6 million grant by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the BRILLIANT (Bringing Innovation to Clinical and Laboratory research to end HIV In Africa through New vaccine Technology) Consortium. The consortium develops and tests novel HIV vaccines in Africa. The NHLS received R94 657 052 annually from Pepfar. However, the total funding for the NHLS is R210 594 552 for the period 01 October 2024 to 30 September 2025. Mashatile said the government was also looking at acquiring affordable drugs and medicines from other countries. 'We are concerned about these cuts, and as I said earlier that we are now looking at resource mobilisation from other quarters, our own fiscals. But just to assure you that we're not looking at our own fiscals for the first time, as I said, in fact, funding from our own fiscals on these programmes already constitutes close to 75% of the budget we spend on HIV and Aids. Mashatile said: It is true though that when it comes to the employment of people in the districts and clinics, a lot of the funding that was used to pay for their salaries came from Pepfar and that's where the minister is trying hard now to ensure that we can deal with that. Despite the negativity around the funding cuts, Mashatile tried to spin a positive narrative. He said the government was now of the view that 'perhaps the decision by the US administration to cut funding must be something that really propels us to now take urgent efforts to become self-reliant, not only as South Africa, but the continent as a whole'. 'Let's start doing things for ourselves,' he said.
