Sizekhaya Holdings, the incoming operator of the South African lottery, has once again been forced to deny any connections to government officials.
The company is due to take over the operating licence of the National Lottery on 1 June after winning a tender process organised by the National Lottery Commission (NLC).
This process saw allegations of government interference levelled against both Sizekhaya, the challenger, and Ithuba Holdings, the incumbent licence holder.
When Sizekhaya was ultimately awarded the contract, allegations surfaced of alleged connections between the company and the family of South Africa’s Deputy President, Paul Mashatile.
This was compounded by the fact that Parks Tau, Minister for Trade and Industry, who was overseeing the NLC’s licence process, had dismissed another bidder for alleged connections to the African National Congress (ANC) party.
In a statement covered by SABC News, the news channel of South African public broadcaster SABC, Fundi Sithebe, Chief Operating Officer of Sizekhaya, defended the company’s reputation and ambitions.
“I can sit with certainty and say to South Africans at large that our mandate and our promise and our guarantee is that this lottery operator will run this licence for the next eight-year period transparently and in the most efficient, exciting and innovative manner.
“There has been no political interference whatsoever. We strongly believe in the superior value proposition that we have put forward.”
The lottery is still being operated by Ithuba under a 12-month transition period, and now Sizekhaya is now stepping up preparations to take on the eight-year contract in just a couple of months time.
The company has been focusing heavily on its social responsibility, player protection, and societal investment duties.
Last month, Chief Executive Officer Lebogang Ndadan wrote an op-ed for a national media outlet in which she drew a line between the lottery and other forms of gambling.
However, with the contract start date looming, concerns around political conflicts of interests and general management of lottery funds continue to be flagged in South African media.
For example, local media outlet GroundUp reported that the R66m (£2.9m) lottery grant to Netball SA (NSA) had been postponed amid an NLC investigation into issues with the sporting body’s applications.