Court dismisses NLC's bid to appoint Ithuba Lottery as temp operator for 12 months
The ruling could potentially leave the country without a lottery operator as Ithuba's licence expires on 31 May.
Picture: Ashraf Hendricks/GroundUp
JOHANNESBURG - The Pretoria High Court has dismissed the National Lotteries Commission (NLC)'s bid to appoint Ithuba Lottery as a temporary operator for 12 months.
The ruling could potentially leave the country without a lottery operator as Ithuba's licence expires on 31 May.
The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party has welcomed the ruling, saying the preferential treatment of Ithuba was unlawful.
On 21 May, the Pretoria High Court declared unconstitutional a move by the minister of trade industry and competition to issue a temporary lottery licence.
The order of invalidity was suspended for five months.
On 26 May, the National Lotteries Commission made a court application seeking to extend the period from five to 12 months.
In its court papers, the commission said that Ithuba would not agree to operate a temporary licence for five months as it would not be profitable.
It added that a new lottery operator, Sizekhaya Holdings, had been announced and it required a transition period of at least nine months.
In his ruling, Judge Omphemetse Mooki said that he was unconvinced by the arguments of the commission.
He said that the sky would not fall should Ithuba refuse to sign a temporary licence agreement.
[JUST IN] Lottery operations may be paused indefinitely after the Pretoria High Court dismissed the National Lottery Commission’s application to extend Ithuba Lottery’s temporary licence from 5 - 12 months.
— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) May 30, 2025
Ithuba’s licence expires tomorrow and it’s refusing to sign a 5-month 🧵 pic.twitter.com/UTIJmQ22MB