South Africa court voids lottery award to Sizekhaya Holdings
The High Court has ruled that Minister Parks Tau breached process rules when awarding the Fourth National Lottery licence to Goldrush-backed Sizekhaya, ordering him to reconsider the bids.
The High Court of South Africa has ruled against the decision to grant the Fourth National Lottery licence to Sizekhaya Holdings, a company majority owned by Goldrush Holdings, SBC News reported.
Minister Parks Tau awarded the licence to Sizekhaya in 2025 after a bidding process involving eight applicants, and the operator took over running the lottery from the previous licence holder, Ithuba, in June 2026.
Ithuba and another bidder, Ringeta Consortium, challenged the award in court, arguing that Tau had introduced an additional assessment step that fell outside the official guidelines set for the process.
According to SBC News, the National Lotteries Commission's own assessment of the bids had placed Sizekhaya as a reserve bidder rather than the preferred applicant. Tau subsequently set up a separate Ministerial Committee to reassess the bids, a step the court found was not part of the formal process and which ultimately led to Sizekhaya being awarded the licence.
The court has now found technical discrepancies in that process and ruled the award invalid, though it stopped short of finding fault with Sizekhaya itself or with the minister's conduct.
Sizekhaya said in a statement that it was "disappointed with the outcome but notes that the Court made no adverse findings against it on any of the grounds raised." The company described the ruling as concerning "a technical issue in the licence award process, which has been referred back to the Minister for reconsideration."
The court suspended its invalidity order for 12 months, a measure intended to keep the lottery operational while the process is revisited. Tau has been instructed to reconsider the original bids and to disregard the reports and recommendations produced by the Ministerial Committee he established.
Sizekhaya will continue running the Fourth National Lottery in the interim, with ticket sales continuing across retail and digital channels, draws proceeding on schedule, winners being paid and contributions to good causes maintained.
Goldrush Holdings said Sizekhaya was reviewing the judgment with its legal advisers and would update shareholders on any material developments.