Gauteng High Court Overturns Fourth South African National Lottery Award Over Procedural Violations

The Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa has set aside the government's decision to award the country’s lucrative Fourth National Lottery and Sports Pools Licence to Sizekhaya Holdings. The ruling follows comprehensive legal reviews initiated by unsuccessful rival applicants Ithuba Lottery the former operator that managed national draws from 2015 to June 2026 and the Ringeta Consortium.

The legal challenge centered on administrative irregularities executed by Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Parks Tau. While the official evaluation process conducted by the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) originally categorized Sizekhaya as a reserve bidder behind Ringeta Consortium, Minister Tau subsequently established an independent Ministerial Committee to re-evaluate the eight competing tenders. Presiding Judge Norman Davis concluded that creating this secondary advisory body introduced unauthorized assessment criteria outside the statutory Request for Proposal (RFP) framework, rendering the ministerial selection procedurally unfair and legally invalid.

Despite setting aside the tender outcome and declaring the operational agreement between the state and Sizekhaya invalid, the High Court emphasized that Minister Tau acted in good faith and issued no adverse findings regarding Sizekhaya’s corporate integrity or bid quality. To preserve operational continuity and prevent severe disruption to public revenue and charitable contributions, the court suspended its declaration of invalidity for a total of 12 months.

Under the court order, Minister Tau has been granted six months to execute a fresh tender determination strictly ignoring the recommendations and reports of the invalidated Ministerial Committee. A secondary six-month transitional buffer will allow for contract negotiations, legislative sign-offs, and handovers should the license be reassigned to a competing entity. In the interim, Sizekhaya, which is 50% owned by Goldrush Holdings, will maintain full operational control over retail and digital ticket distribution, scheduled draws, and prize disbursements.