Lebogang Ndadana, CEO of Sizekhaya Holdings, the incoming operator of South Africa’s National Lottery, has promised to take player safety at heart.
The company was chosen as the next licence holder by Trade Minister Parks Tau after a lengthy evaluation process that involved a loaded list of competitors.
With the decision taken back in May 2025, Tau left a 12-month buffer period for a smooth transition between the previous operator, Ithuba Holdings, and the next licence holder, which eventually was named as Sizekhaya.
Just months away from the transition officially coming to an end, Ndadana appeared with an op-ed in South African news outlet Lifestyle & Tech to talk about Sizekhaya’s ambitions as it takes over the national lottery torch.
The CEO wrote that responsible play will lay at the heart of Sizekhaya’s eight-year tenure as a license holder, with the groups that she sees as most vulnerable being students, the elderly, low-income individuals, and those who are unemployed.
In her comment piece, Ndadana made sure to draw a clear line between the National Lottery and online gaming in South Africa by vowing to stay away from the “social destruction” she said the latter is “wreaking”.
As a reminder, online gambling is regulatory fragmented in South Africa, with the 2004 National Gambling Act governing the sector. The Act was amended once in 2008, but there is no unified gambling regulator, with the industry overseen by various local authorities.
The situation has led to rising rates of problem gambling with no legislative means to counteract this, however talks are currently in place that could potentially pave the way for a regulated regime. The government has also taken note of the staggering sums of money the industry is generating.
Back to Ndadana’s comments. In order to efficiently protect the most at-risk in South Africa, she shared that Sizekhaya will impose a number of operational measures that would help it achieve that end goal.
Among these are further restrictions to ensure lottery tickets are sold only to adults, annuities options for jackpot withdrawals as opposed to lump-sum payouts, bans on ticket sales in venues where alcohol is also sold, nationwide gambling harm educational campaigns, and a dedicated lottery hotline for those seeking professional help.
Not all is sunshine in sunny South Africa
So far, so good. Purely judging on the comments of Ndadana and Sizekhaya’s mission once it takes over the lottery license in a few months, one would have a solid reason to think that the lottery will be in good hands.
The CEO also mentioned plans to increase lottery sales, which would in turn unlock more profits for the National Lottery Commission (NLC) so that it can then fund the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF) for good causes purposes.
Take a more zoomed out look, however, and things begin to paint a very different picture than the one drawn in the Lifestyle & Tech article. Allegations of corruption and malpractice continue to surround the wider South African lottery system.
For one, the NLC has been a target of severe scrutiny over allegedly mishandling lottery grants for years. In February 2025, the South African Special Investigation Unit (SIU) seized around R10m (£1.3m) in proceeds made through the sale of a house in Pretoria.
The reason – authorities believed that the property was owned by a company with links to a former NCL board member. SIU investigations into suspicious lottery grant expenditures first began in 2020, and by 2024 the seized personal assets amounted to around R344m. This all happened under the tenure of the previous lottery operator, Ithuba Holdings.
Even the licence tender process was littered with scandals, which Lottery Daily covered extensively throughout last year. Among the incidents was a company sharing the same name and six directors with Ithuba Holdings, which at that point had been a lottery operator for two additional years on top of the allowed eight.
Minister Tau also found himself in hot water throughout the licensing process, facing scrutiny in the South African media. After Sizekhaya was ultimately named as the successful contender, some pointed out that the incoming lottery operator had close ties to the government.
Bellamount Gaming Ltd will own 5.6% of the shares in Sizekhaya once government shares are issued as part of the lottery license arrangements. One of the listed Directors of Bellamount is Khumo Bogatsu, who is the sister-in-law of South Africa’s Deputy President Mashatile.
This link has been previously addressed by Goldrush Group, which is the majority shareholder in Sizekhaya Holdings with a 50% share. The mishmash of connections between shareholders, company directors, and politicians, means that public scrutiny of South Africa’s lottery management is likely not going away any time soon in 2026.
Nonetheless, the lottery’s new management assert that they are ready to take on the task with a hefty focus on responsibility. Concluding her op-ed, Ndadana asserted that Sizekhaya will ensure that ‘responsible play will be at the centre of everything we do’.
“You can bet on that”, she confidently signed off.
