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The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies announced today that Ithuba Holdings (Pty) Ltd is the preferred applicant for the third National Lottery Licence and that Gidani (Pty) Ltd, the current lottery operator, is the reserve applicant.

Negotiations will now commence with Ithuba to conclude a Licence Agreement to operate the lottery.  It is envisaged that the negotiations will be finalised during the course of November 2014.  The Licence Agreement will provide for Ithuba to commence operating the lottery on 1 June 2015.

Should negotiations with Ithuba be unsuccessful, the Minister will commence negotiations with reserve applicant Gidani for the third National Lottery Licence.

The announcement comes after a rigorous bid evaluation process that commenced with the issue of the Request for Proposal of 11 June 2013.  The National Lotteries Board conducted the bid evaluation and adjudication process.  The Minister’s decision was made after consultation with the Board.

Four applicants submitted applications to the National Lotteries Board by the closing date of 30 November 2013.  Mzansi Games (Pty) Ltd and Grand Lottery (Pty) Ltd, the two other applicants, were informed today that their applications were unsuccessful.

The Minister is confident that the process for the award of the third National Lottery Licence will achieve the objectives in the Lotteries Act and the RFP for the national lottery in South Africa.

Issued by Government