Sizekhaya Holdings, the fourth operator of South Africa’s National Lottery, is behind in sales by 39% from the target amount set in its original licence bid.
This figure was presented in front of South Africa’s Parliament earlier this week, with the main topic of discussion being last week’s Pretoria High Court decision to reverse the licence bidding process.
Sizekhaya was granted the licence last year by Minister of Trade Parks Tau, taking over from previous licence holder Ithuba after a Request for Technical Proposal bidding competition.
Ithuba and other contenders then appealed the decision, arguing that Parks Tau had divested from the bidding guidelines by forming a special committee to assess and advise on the offers.
The High Court then agreed, overturning the granting of the licence and giving Tau six months to restart the process, and six more months to grant the licence again, for a total of 12 months. Tau told Parliament that he’s still considering whether to appeal the court’s ruling.
At the same meeting, Parliament heard evidence of how and why Sizekhaya is behind the sales it originally promised in its bid. Members of Parliament questioned Tintswalo Nkuna, Executive Manager of the National Lotteries Commission (NLC).
Nkuna said: “They had anticipated to generate around R3.5bn in ticket sales. The actual sales that have been generated since the beginning of June 2025 up until September 2026 is R2.1bn.
“It’s also an underperformance of 21.7% below their revised forecast, as was submitted with the business plan.”
Still, Nkuna remained confident that the results have not been surprising, given that a revenue underperformance is usually expected when a lottery licence changes hands, typically driven by reservations from lottery players.
Regardless, the NLC continues to closely monitor the situation, Nkuna added, with weekly sales reports being submitted by Sizekhaya.
If Minister Tau decides to go through with a new bidding process, Sizekhaya will remain in charge of the lottery for the time being, and will also be able to submit a tender once again.
