Concerns have come to light in South Africa relating to the government’s expiring contract of the National Lottery, operated by Ithuba.
Questions have been raised as to why Parks Tau, South Africa’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, issued a closed request for proposals (RFP) for a temporary licence to run the national lottery for a year.
This is due to the contract expiring at the end of May, however, it has been reported by local news outlet GroundUp that the government is now denying that it ever sent any RFPs in the first place.
The confusing nature of this development may raise eyebrows across South Africa’s betting industry, which is all too familiar with corruption scandals. Back in 2022, five senior members of the South African National Lotteries Commission (NLC) were suspended.
The suspensions followed a concerted effort by the NLC to crack down on corruption at the organisation, which had faced a series of allegations around that time.
Any suspicions around the current state of affairs around how the South African lottery is governed may be heightened by the fact that the apparent RFP and Tau’s letters have been watermarked with bidders’ details in an apparent attempt to prevent them being shared.
A source shared copies of the document and the letter with GroundUp, and stated they had done this “in the interest of transparency”.
NLC Board Chair, Barney Pityana, also assured MPs that he was unaware of the RFP when asked about it previously, and stated: “The minister has been looking at several scenarios regarding what can be done.
“Our view, and the investigations that we have received from experts, is that it is possible to evaluate and adjudicate a temporary licence from June 1 to be valid and meaningful for at least 12 months.
“The information we have from experts is that this can be done. The minister is sitting with all the expert advice and will make an announcement in due course.”
Despite concerns around transparency, South Africa remains one of Africa’s biggest betting markets and is widely regarded by industry observers as offering the most effective and stable regulations.