SIZEKHAYA Holdings has been appointed as the next Lotto operator.
The announcement was made by the Minister of Trade, industry and competition minister Parks Tau, on Wednesday, after the court order.
This follows Ithuba Holdings, who operate Lotto’s licence expires on May 31.
Sizekhaya, a consortium partly owned by gambling company Goldrush, is expected to take over for a period of eight years.
Last week, Judge Sulet Potterill ruled that Tau must announce the bidder by 28 May, and that the decision to issue a temporary licence was unconstitutional. But to prevent lottery ticket sales from grinding to a halt, Potterill suspended her order for five months, enabling the temporary licence to be awarded for that period.
“It is most unfortunate that this matter has already become the subject of litigation and a judgment of the high court,” said Tau in a statement on Wednesday.
“I am seeking legal advice with a view to appealing against the judgment’s findings and orders … With due respect to the court, my announcement of the lottery licence holder is the result of my undertaking made to the bidders and the court before the hearing of the application.”
Political parties EFF and BOSA have questioned how the bid was awarded?
Influential business figures behind the consortium:
* Gold Rush Consortium, a gambling company, owns 50% of Sizekhaya.
* Sizekhaya is led by KwaZulu-Natal businesspeople Sandile Zungu and Moses Tembe.
* Lebogang Ndadana, one of Sizekhaya’s directors, sits on the audit committee of the National Empowerment Fund (NEF), which holds a 20% stake in the lottery licence on behalf of the state.
* The NEF reports to Tau.
* Zungu is the owner of AmaZulu Football Club.
* Tembe is the father of Anele Tembe, the fiancée of slain rapper AKA, real name Kiernan Forbes, who died after she fell from the 10th floor of the Pepperclub Hotel in Cape Town, in 2021.
Sizekhaya’s tech partner is Genlot, which operates the Chinese lottery — the second biggest in the world.
Based in Shenzhen, China, Genlot is involved in several other lotteries around the world, including Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Brazil and Jamaica.
The company has an annual turnover of $60-billion in “sales processed” and has a 19% “global market share”, according to its website.
Attempt to obtain comment from Sizekhaya Holdings did not materialise at the time of publishing.
Image (Minister of Trade, industry and competition minister Parks Tau, named new lotto operator for the next eight years).
