South Africa’s National Lottery is again under the spotlight, being forced to respond to player criticism about the level of draw transparency.
An influx of comments by lottery players were posted on social media as a Powerball jackpot winner took home the R124m (£5.1m) prize after purchasing a R37.5 wager through their online banking service.
Complaints on X followed shortly, with people questioning the fairness of the lottery system as a result of a large number of previous winners being users of the same bank that the new millionaire was using.
Calls were also made for the return of the lottery’s old draw system, where numbers were picked manually. One of this idea’s proponents was the Aubrey Tau Foundation, which said that live draws should make a comeback and host “a reputable audit firm”.
“Live draws will not only restore public confidence in Ithuba and the National Lottery Commission (NLC) but further ensure measures are in place to regulate illegal lotteries and promote responsible gambling.
“The Foundation calls on the NLC and Ithuba (current temporary operator) to revisit its processes and take South Africans’ concerns seriously and bring back live Lotto draws.
“Not having live draws and a reputable audit firm overseeing the process will have dire consequences, including possible rigging of lottery results.”
Responding to the criticism, a representative of the National Lottery said: “We are aware of the unfounded claims circulating on social media questioning the legitimacy of National Lottery winners. All draws are conducted in the presence of independent auditors and under surveillance.
“We use certified draw machines and random number generators, tested for fairness and accuracy. There are no shortcuts, no bias and absolutely no preselected winners, only pure chance and integrity.”
The lottery seems unable to get away from bad publicity, with the bidding process for the tender that took place earlier this year sparking a myriad of controversies regarding its integrity.
Both Ithuba, the temporary operator as mentioned above, and Sizekhaya Holdings, the company that will inherit the licence next year, have been accused of having ties to government officials.