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Court sets aside Sizekhaya's national lottery licence award

Published

The high court in Pretoria ruled that Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau must reconsider his award of the national lottery licence to Sizekhaya Holdings. The court suspended its order, so the lottery keeps running for now.

Ithuba Lottery and Ringeta Consortium brought the review. The court declared the licence agreement invalid but suspended that declaration for two consecutive six-month periods. It told Tau to reconsider the award without the report of the ministerial committee.

The court found that Tau acted unfairly in procedure and in substance. It said he secretly appointed a separate ministerial committee to re-evaluate the bids outside the Request for Proposals process. One report said the National Lotteries Commission must pay costs.

Sizekhaya said the decision concerned a technical issue in the award process. It said the court made no adverse findings against it on any of the grounds Ithuba and Ringeta raised. The company said tickets are still on sale, draws will go ahead and prizes will be paid.

Sizekhaya said the court suspended its order to protect the public interest, because good causes depend on the lottery running without interruption.

Key facts

Who
Parks Tau (Trade, Industry and Competition Minister); Sizekhaya Holdings (National Lottery operator); National Lotteries Commission (party to the licence agreement, ordered to pay costs); Ithuba Lottery (applicant in review proceedings)
What
The court ruled that Tau acted procedurally and substantively unfairly by secretly appointing a separate Ministerial Committee to carry out a fresh re-evaluation outside the established Request for Proposals process. Sizekhaya says operations will continue as normal because the court suspended its order to ensure good causes remain funded.
When
3 November 2026
Where
Pretoria
Status
Reported

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