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IOL News
3 days ago
- Business
- IOL News
SA faces looming lottery blackout after Pretoria High Court dismisses Ithuba bid
iol South Africa at risk of lottery shutdown after court rejects Ithuba's plea Image: File South Africa may soon experience a temporary lottery blackout, following a significant ruling from the Pretoria High Court that dismissed the National Lotteries Commission's (NLC) urgent application to extend Ithuba Holdings' operating licence beyond its impending expiry on May 31. The court's decision raises serious uncertainty about the future of the national lottery, a vital service that supports numerous community initiatives across the country. On Thursday, IOL News reported that Ithuba, the current operator tasked with managing the national lottery, is now evaluating its legal options in response to the recent decision taken to award the next operating licence to Sizakhaya Holdings. Ithuba has voiced its concern that this decision undermines the considerable advancements it has made in creating a locally focused lottery ecosystem, one that prioritises small business growth, job creation, and maximising revenue for charitable causes. The company expressed particular discontent in a statement released earlier this week, indicating that Tau's decision goes against the principles of localisation and inclusive economic growth detailed in its Request for Proposal. As a fully South African-owned and Black-empowered entity, Ithuba has heavily invested in the development of an African Central Lottery System that is both owned and designed by South Africans to serve the continent. 'Ithuba Holdings has the necessary infrastructure, financial resources and distribution systems to deliver a seamless, secure and uninterrupted National Lottery,' stated Michelle van Trotsenburg, Ithuba's head of marketing and corporate affairs. She added, 'Our game portfolio is locally developed, our operational model prioritises 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 Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading Judge Omphemetse Mooki presided over the case, pointing out the deficiencies in the NLC's claims. Mooki argued that the commission's assertion indicating that there would be no lottery operator for a full year following Ithuba's exit was exaggerated, stating, '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 also emphasised that the minister holds broader discretion in selecting a temporary operator compared to a permanent one, asserting, '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.' Mooki concluded that the NLC had failed to substantiate its case for the relief sought. Ultimately, while Mooki acknowledged the urgency of the application, he ruled against it, ordering both the National Lotteries Commission and Ithuba to shoulder the legal costs, including those associated with three counsel.
The Citizen
3 days ago
- Business
- The Citizen
You may not be able to get a Lotto ticket after today
'I do not accept that the sky will fall' says judge The National Lotteries Commission (NLC) has failed in its bid to change a recent court ruling limiting the temporary licence to operate the lottery to five months. This means ticket sales may stop before Sunday, 1 June. The current licence, held by Ithuba Holdings, expires on Saturday. After that, their sister company, Ithuba Lottery, was supposed to take over the licence for a period of twelve months. But after last week's Gauteng High Court ruling that the issuing of the temporary licence is unconstitutional and can only be issued for five months, Ithuba Lottery said a five-month licence is financially unfeasible and may not continue operating the lottery after Saturday. And the new licence holder, Sizekhaya Holdings, which is set to take over from Ithuba Lottery for a period of eight years, will need at least nine months to set up its operations. The NLC therefore applied to change the court order to allow a twelve-month licence. But Judge Omphemetse Mooki ruled against them on Friday. Will funding stop? A source at the NLC told GroundUp that the board is in emergency meetings to discuss the way forward. If lottery ticket sales do stop after Saturday, the National Lottery Distribution Fund does still have about R4.3-billion in reserves to continue issuing grants to good causes. The NLC's application, which was heard urgently on Thursday at the High Court in Pretoria, was opposed by Wina Njalo, one of the companies that bid on the lottery licence tender. Wina Njalo argued that the NLC was seeking to relitigate the same issues that had already been heard by the court. If it was found that five months was not enough time, it argued, then the NLC could approach the court at that stage. It said the application to vary the order was yet another example of how the NLC was seeking to favour the Ithuba companies and they were not entitled to insist on making a profit, given that Ithuba Holdings had already made 'huge profits' by operating the lottery for the last 10 years. In his ruling, Judge Mooki said the issue was whether it was just and equitable to extend the period that the temporary licence can operate before it is declared invalid and, in doing so, interfere with the discretion exercised by another court. Such interference was 'very sparingly exercised'. He said he was not persuaded that the NLC had made out a case. 'There is no substantive support that Ithuba Lottery will suffer a loss of R51-million unless it is granted a temporary licence for 12 months. There was complete silence from Ithuba Lottery. It did not file any affidavits,' the Judge said. He pointed to the fact that the NLC on 22 May 2025, when it was aware of Judge Potterill's order, had written to Ithuba Lottery requesting it sign a licence to operate for 12 months. 'It was thus inviting the Ithuba Lottery to sign an agreement that would breach the order made on May 21.' While the NLC had disclosed the response from Ithuba Lottery, it had not disclosed its own letter. ALSO READ: Big change to Lotto operations: Will tickets be on sale next week? 5 months could be long enough Judge Mooki said the NLC had also not put up any evidence that Sizekhaya needed more than five months to set up operations. In fact, as Wina Njalo had pointed out, a condition of the fourth licence was that the successful bidder must be able to operate within five to six months of being awarded the licence. He said in claiming that its reserves would be significantly depleted should there be no operator after 1 June, the NLC had 'over-egged the pudding'. 'I do not accept that the sky will fall after 1 June should Ithuba Lottery refuse to sign an agreement to conduct lottery operations as determined in (Potterill's) order,' he said. The request for proposals for the temporary licence was issued when it became apparent that Minister Parks Tau would not meet the strict deadlines to announce the new lottery licence holder, giving it time to take over operations. He only made the announcement on 28 May, just three days before the expiration of Ithuba's licence. He has yet to provide reasons for the delay. This article originally appeared on GroundUp and was republished with permission. Read the original article here. NOW READ: SIU is not done with NLC yet, as more corruption allegations emerge
