Lottery's hot potato

BIDDING: MINISTER POSTPONES DECISION ON NEW OPERATOR BY A YEAR

- Raymond Joseph

» No mention of what will happen with ticket sales.

The announcement of a new operator to run the lottery has been postponed for a further 12 months, creating uncertainty about the continued sale of lottery tickets after the licence of the current operator, Ithuba, ends on 31 May.

A statement circulated by e-mail to MPs by Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Parks Tau announcing the extension of the "bid validity period" for the lottery and sports pools licence for a further year, until 31 May, 2026, makes no mention of what will happen with ticket sales after Ithuba's licence expires.

Worth around R180 billion over its usual five-year life, the operator licence has been referred to as "a licence to print money".

The latest postponement for a further 12 months has come as a surprise. This is the third time that an announcement of the next licence operator has been postponed.

The first time was in July 2022, about 10 months before Ithuba's licence was due to expire on 31 May, 2023, when it was extended by two years by former minister Ebrahim Patel.

Responding to a written parliamentary question from Build One South Africa leader Mmusi Maimane last year on the extension of the Ithuba contract by Patel for two years to 31 May, 2025, Tau said he had used powers granted to him by the Lotteries Act to extend an incumbent operator's licence "for a nonrenewable period not exceeding 24 months".