Sizekhaya Holdings, the company running South Africa's National Lottery, sold R2.1 billion in tickets between June 2025 and September 2026, against a projected R3.5 billion, Parliament heard on Wednesday. It also missed its revised targets, according to the report of the briefing.
The shortfall comes days after the Pretoria High Court voided the award of the lottery licence to Sizekhaya.
What Parliament heard
The ticket-sales figures were presented at a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday. According to the report, Sizekhaya will keep running the lottery for at least another year, and Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau is still considering whether to appeal the ruling.
The court ruling
On 3 November the Pretoria High Court voided the award of the National Lottery licence to Sizekhaya and referred it back to Tau for reconsideration. According to the fuller account of the ruling, the declaration of invalidity is suspended for two consecutive six-month periods. In the first, the minister reconsiders and decides on the award. In the second, a new licence agreement is negotiated and concluded. If the licence does not go to Sizekhaya, transitional arrangements would be put in place.
The award was challenged by the EFF and by the losing bidders Ringeta and Ithuba. A ministerial committee had rejected the evaluation committee's choice of Ringeta as preferred bidder and recommended Sizekhaya, with Ithuba as the reserve bidder. Tau announced the eight-year licence in May 2025.
Ithuba, which ran the lottery from June 2015, welcomed the ruling. "The judgment vindicates our stance," the company said, adding that it was reviewing the judgment with its legal representatives.
What we do not yet know
- The court's reasoning, which has not been reported.
- Whether Tau will appeal. Reports also differ on the remedy: one describes a fresh process within six months, while the fuller account describes two six-month periods.
- How the sales shortfall affects money raised for good causes and the lottery's prize pool.
