The Lottery and its discontents

Here are articles on who plays the South African Lottery, how the Lottery money is distributed, and dodgy dealings by the National Lotteries Commission and its recipients.

Court battle looms over lottery licence

Losing bidder Lekalinga has launched a court application to probe Minister Parks Tau’s decision to award the fourth lottery licence to Sizekhaya Holdings

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Law | 12 June 2025

Lottery official’s pension frozen by Special Tribunal

Sanele Dlamini had been found guilty of gross misconduct by the NLC

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Law | 12 June 2025

Luxury home of Lottery “kingpin” frozen by Special Tribunal

Non-profit organisation headed by Alfred Sigudhla received nearly R70-million from the Lottery

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News | 5 June 2025

Troubling questions as minister gives Ithuba another year to run lottery

On the face of it, Ithuba should have been excluded as it did not bid for the new permanent license and it has reached the maximum legal operating limit of ten years

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News | 2 June 2025

Court rules against Lottery: ticket sales may stop on Sunday

“I do not accept that the sky will fall” says judge

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Law | 30 May 2025

NLC did nothing to stop 4,000 “delinquents” from getting grant funding

New corruption-busting efforts have caused grant money to go unspent

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Parliament | 29 May 2025

Goldrush-backed consortium announced as next lottery operator

Announcement comes after months of litigation by another bidder

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Brief | 28 May 2025

Lottery sales will stop on Sunday unless court order is changed, says NLC

A five-month temporary licence is not financially feasible, says Ithuba

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Law | 28 May 2025

SIU cracks down on lottery corruption, but NPA missing in action

Findings were presented to SCOPA this week

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News | 22 May 2025

Court rules against Minister Parks Tau on lottery licence

Minister’s decision to delay lottery announcement was unconstitutional

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Law | 21 May 2025

Special Tribunal freezes R25-million in assets from stolen lottery funds

Money meant for Olympics roadshow was diverted to NLC officials

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Law | 19 May 2025

Ithuba poised to run Lottery for next 12 months — despite legal concerns

And Goldrush-backed consortium picked for eight-year licence starting in 2026

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News | 16 May 2025

Lottery underspends R720-million allocated for grants

Auditor-General find lots of problems, as the institution battles to recover from over a decade of mismanagement and corruption

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Parliament | 14 May 2025

Lottery workers march in Pretoria

Workers demand higher wages and changes to the way the National Lotteries Commission is run

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News | 8 May 2025

Lottery licence: “All will be revealed in good time” says Minister

Parks Tau says he will announce successful bidder on 28 May

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Law | 23 April 2025

Minister must commit to a firm date for new lottery licence, says bidder

Wina Njalo wants Parks Tau to announce the successful bidder by 9 May

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Law | 11 April 2025