Court Overturns South Africa's Fourth Lottery Licence Award
South Africa's High Court has set aside the award of the Fourth National Lottery licence to Sizekhaya Holdings, sending the decision back to Minister Parks Tau to reconsider. Sizekhaya, which is majority owned by Goldrush Holdings, took over lottery operations from Ithuba in June 2026.
The challenge came from Ithuba and Ringeta Consortium. Both had bid. Both lost. Their argument was procedural: Tau had inserted an extra stage into the evaluation that wasn't in the official guidelines, and that's the point the court accepted. Eight bidders went into the process, and the National Lotteries Commission assessed the applications and ranked Sizekhaya as a reserve bidder, not the preferred choice. Tau then set up a separate Ministerial Committee to reassess the bids, a body that sat outside the formal process. Sizekhaya's win came out of that review.
The court found Tau acted in good faith and made no adverse findings against Sizekhaya on any of the grounds raised. Sizekhaya said it was disappointed, though it noted the ruling turned on a technical issue in the award process. The invalidity order has been suspended for 12 months so the lottery keeps running without interruption. Draws stay on schedule. Tickets remain on sale through retail and digital channels. Winners are still getting paid, and contributions to good causes continue.
Minister Tau must now reconsider the bids and disregard the reports and recommendations produced by the Ministerial Committee. That's a narrow instruction. The committee's work is effectively struck from the record, and the Minister has to go back to the applications as the Commission originally scored them.
For operators watching South African gaming, the case is a reminder of how much weight sits on process documents. The licence was lost not because the winning bid was deficient, but because an evaluation step sat outside the published rules. Eight bidders built their submissions around a defined process. Adding a stage after the fact gave the challengers their opening.
Goldrush Holdings said Sizekhaya is weighing the judgment with its legal advisers and will keep shareholders informed of any material developments. Whether Sizekhaya appeals the finding or re-enters a fresh evaluation hasn't been confirmed. Ithuba, the previous operator, has no guaranteed path back in either. The court didn't hand it the licence.
What happens next sits with the Minister. Reconsideration must follow the original guidelines, with the Ministerial Committee's conclusions set aside. The 12-month suspension gives the lottery a buffer while that happens.
In practice, Sizekhaya keeps running the national lottery through the interim period, and players won't see a break in service. For affiliates and retail partners, the near-term picture is unchanged. The medium-term one isn't. A re-run evaluation reopens a contest that several bidders believed they had already lost.