Another South Africa lottery bidder seeks rights in Court
South Africa’s lottery licence seems to be the most valuable asset in the world, as yet another company has contested the winner.
Lekalinga, a Serbian player with appetite for the South Africa’s lottery market and a bidder for the licence, is now seeking legal support from the Pretoria High Court to dive deeper into the licence awarding process.
After examining a list of eight bidders, Minister Parks Tau awarded the national lottery license that will run from May 2026 until 2034 to contender Sizekhaya Holdings.
The process underwent a delay of eight months, with another contender, Wina Njalo, also filing a legal complaint with the High Court against Tau.
As a result, the Court issued an official order for the Minister to announce the winner no later than 28 May, which he eventually did, but retaining the position that he did so on his own accord and not based on the Court’s decision.
In fact, Tau filed a subsequent appeal in which he accuses the Court of mishandling the case. He said that the process took time due to the sensitive nature of choosing a company with sufficient infrastructure in place – something that he said the Court had not taken into account.
Coming back to the most recent development, Vladimir Vukovic, Founder of Lekalinga, now wants to see an official statement summarising on what grounds did Tau decide to grant Sizekhaya the license.
For Vukovic, the apple of content became a statement by Tau from late 2024 where he said that he’s working on ensuring that “no political party or political office-bearer has any direct financial interest” in the license tender.
According to the Serbian, Tau has missed a crucial detail under the Lotteries Act, which he pointed out requires the assessment not just of direct financial interest, but of indirect such as well.
“The record should reveal the extent to which the minister assessed whether any political party or political office-bearer holds a direct or indirect financial interest in Sizekhaya and ensured compliance with the applicable prohibitions,” Vukovic added.
https://lotterydaily.com/2025/06/12/regulation/south-africa-lottery-5/