The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr Rob Davies has committed himself to fully implement the judgement handed down in the High Court in Pretoria today in the review application which was launched by Gidani (Pty) Ltd in November 2014. The review aimed at setting aside the Minister’s decision to appoint Ithuba (Pty) Ltd as the Preferred Applicant and to award the third National Lottery Licence to Ithuba.

Following a rigorous evaluation and adjudication process, which commenced with the issuing of the RFP in July 2013, Minister Rob Davies appointed the current operator, Ithuba, as the Preferred Applicant with which to negotiate the terms of the Licence Agreement to operate the third National Lottery.  Negotiations then ensued with Ithuba, the Minister and the National Lotteries Commission.  The Licence Agreement was concluded on 24 November 2014.

Ithuba has since commenced operating the National Lottery on 1 June 2015, when Gidani’s Licence expired. The review application was heard during the course of May and June 2015.

Minister Davies welcomed Judge Tuchten’s decision to uphold his decision to appoint Ithuba as the Preferred Applicant, on the basis that the Minister’s decision is both rational and reasonable.

The Judge however set aside the licence as certain terms relating to the guarantee and performance bond was found to be invalid.  However, the Judge suspended the operation of this decision for a month.

Minister Davies is confident that he will resolve the issues raised by the Court within this one month period and would like to assure the public that there will be no disruptions to the operation of the National Lottery.

Issued by the DTI