Pretoria High Court deems Minister Tau’s lottery plans invalid

The Pretoria High Court has ordered Minister Parks Tau to appoint a permanent national lottery operator by 28 May.

This follows a national lottery limbo which began earlier this year, when it was revealed that Minister Parks Tau will grant a temporary 12-month lottery license instead of the full eight-year one in order to create a buffer between the license transition. 

Later on, Wina Manje – one of the bidders looking to obtain the licence – challenged this decision with a legal request for the Pretoria High Court to intervene and block the issuing of a temporary license.

One of the main concerns cited was that the decision has already been predetermined, with Tau allegedly favouring a company called ‘Ithuba Lottery’ for the 12-month contract.

In addition to Ithuba Lottery sharing the same name as the current national license operator Ithuba Holdings, whose license expires on 31 May after an exclusive 10-year contract, Wina Manje later accused both entities of having the same six active Directors.

Ithiba Holdings was not able to participate in the latest bidding process due to its 2015 contract already being extended by the maximum of two years.

Tau’s buffer license idea was also backed by South Africa’s National Lotteries Commission (NLC), which added that the transition period is needed to accommodate an adequate infrastructure preparation for whoever gets chosen as the next exclusive lottery operator.

Regardless, the court has now declared Tau’s temporary license bid invalid, ordering him to announce the winning bidder for a full license instead, and in a very short time at that.

Current holder Ithiba Holdings will be allowed to operate for five more months until the new incumbent takes over – somewhat granting both Tau’s and the NLC’s request for a transition period.

Judge Sulet Potterill commented: “I am unconvinced that the period of 12 months argued for is necessary.”

If Tau fails to make the announcement on time, the national lottery will be unable to continue operations.

The NLC has now launched its own appeal against the court’s judgement. For Newzroom Afrika, NLC Chair Barney Pityana commented: “We are contesting that. We think the judge probably misunderstood the scope of what it takes to set up a process from the beginning.

“Strictly speaking, if we go along with what the judge says, everything that has been done is simply going to fall away.”

Pityana is currently in the crosshairs of the Public Servants Association trade union, which has called for his resignation after a wave of Pretoria protests by NLC employees demanding better working conditions.