Parkstau says it will announce successful bidders on May 28th
The successful bidder for the lottery license will be announced on May 28th, says Parkstau, Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, but he cannot give him a “clear business facility” in an affidavit filed in the Pretoria High Court over Easter weekend.
Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Parkstau says he will announce successful bidders for the fourth lottery license on May 28, 2025, with the exception of “Over My Control.” This means that the court case against him by bidder Wina Njalo is “moot,” he says.
The Minister submitted a conflicting affidavit in his application over Easter weekend.
The issue was set to be heard at the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday, April 22nd, but will be heard on May 5th and 6th.
Wina Njalo, a subsidiary of Hosken Consolidated Investments, hopes the court declares that the unconstitutional and illegal Tau did not award the fourth license. They are seeking an order that announced successful bidders by May 9th and directing them to enter into a license agreement by May 31st.
Wina Njalo is also challenging the Minister’s decision to extend the validity of his fourth license and wants to put aside his decision to issue a temporary license (one year). According to Wina Njalo, temporary licenses only benefit current licensee Ithuba. This is because they only have the ability and infrastructure to run the lottery.
However, Tau says that due to the possibility of an unexpected situation, he cannot give a “clear effort” to enter into a license agreement by May 28th.
“This cannot be in the public interest,” he said.
“If you are unable to enter into a satisfactory license agreement by May 31, you will need to extend the validity period of your bid or cancel your RFP (request for proposal) and start a new one. We would like to avoid the latter.”
He said the licensing process was “very complicated.”
“In the past, serious allegations of corruption have been made regarding the National Lottery Commission and how lottery is managed. These considerations have led to a very careful approach.”
He said allegations that he supported Itaba (through the issue of temporary licensing) were not true.
“Maybe it’s because Ithuba has an advantage over other potential bidders. I didn’t know that, and I don’t know that now.”
However, if Wina Njalo succeeds in the decision to obtain the license, the lottery will become “completely dysfunctional” on June 1st, and the charities that relied on it for fundraising will suffer.
He said the temporary licensing issue was “emergency measures.”
The minister said the heart of Wina Nyaro’s complaints appears to be the demand for precise reasons that underpins his decision to postpone the announcement of bidders.
However, he said he had identified “issues” that had to remain secret in order to protect the integrity of the ongoing arbitration process.
“It is a matter of public record that the previous award of licenses was full of allegations of corruption and illegality. I fully understand my obligation to provide reasons for my decision, and will do so in time after I announce my winning bid.
“When we can’t influence the decision-making process, everything is revealed at a good time.
“I honestly and seriously tried to distance myself from previous history and apply my mind appropriately and effectively to the proper issuance of a fourth license. The fact that I invited all bidders to apply for a temporary license was a serious attempt to involve them all.”
The National Lotteries Commission (NLC) is also opposed to the application.
Affidavit Chair Bernie Pettiana said the assessment process should be extended as the NLC received eight applications instead of four expected.
This process involved site visits to technology partners “worldwide.”
He said that after the arbitration process was finalized and the board reported it to the minister, Tau’s advisers began their work. At the December 2024 meeting, the Minister advised that he was not ready to reach a decision.
In January, when the board resumed work, it was advised that there was not enough time for successful bidder selection, negotiating a license agreement, and for successful bidders to take over lottery operations by June 1, 2025.
The transition period alone will take five to six months, he said. Therefore, it is recommended that the Minister issue a temporary license and an invitation to eight bidders to apply for it.
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He said the temporary RFP provisions released on March 3 were financially viable and attractive for all bidders.
He explained Wina Nyaro’s claim that Ithoba was favored as a “magnificent plot” that had not approached proof.
According to Pityana, the NLC had more than R2.6 billion in reserves, but if a temporary license is not awarded, more than a third of that will have to be spent 12 months providing funding for good reasons.
“It is also worth mentioning that the Minister is considering the possibility of a transition to a state lottery after the expiration of the fourth license. The reserves must conduct research for the development of a central game system and tolerate the national organs to operate the next lottery,” he said.
Ithuba Lottery is one of eight bidders. It claims to be a separate legal entity for its current license holder, Ithuba Holdings, but in its counter affidavit (to secure a temporary license) it acknowledges that it intends to take over Ishba holdings and Ishba holdings if it acquires a temporary license.
Wina Njalo claims that the companies are the same because they share directors, have similar names and share facilities, but Isaba Lottery says it has a different stock structure from Isaba Holdings.
