Sizekhaya Holdings, the holder of South Africa’s Fourth National Licence, will have to repeat its participation in the bidding process once again following a court order ruling the awarding invalid.
The operator took over from previous licence holder Ithuba in June 2026, after a bidding process that took place in 2025. Minister of Trade and Industry Parks Tau was in charge of that process.
Following the decision, Ithuba filed a legal complaint against the bidding process, arguing that Minister Tau’s intervention technically broke the rules of the Request for Tender by forming a special Ministerial Committee to assess the applications and advise on the process.
Sizekhaya was then selected as the preferred bidder, which was a decision different from what the National Lotteries Commission had initially established – putting Sizekhaya as a reversed bidder.
A High Court has now upheld the argument. While not constituting any adverse findings against Sizekhaya, nor ruling that Minister Tau had acted in bad faith, the court has ruled the decision invalid and has ordered a review of the bidding process.
The invalidity order has been set aside for 12 months to ensure that the lottery will remain operational, allowing for draws to continue as scheduled, tickets to be sold as usual, and good causes contributions to remain in place.
Sizekhaya commented: “Sizekhaya is disappointed with the outcome but notes that the Court made no adverse findings against it on any of the grounds raised.
“The decision concerned a technical issue in the licence award process, which has been referred back to the Minister for reconsideration.”
As of now, the future of the lottery licence remains uncertain. Following the inevitable bidding process review, Tau can either pick a completely new operator or decide to hold Sizekhaya in place.
Whatever the decision, it marks yet another chapter in the lottery’s history marred by controversy and disputes.
