On June 1, the South African National Lottery quietly changed hands. Sizekhaya Holdings officially took over the national gambling asset from Ithuba Holdings, which had operated it for 11 years, with an annual sales volume of about 7.28 billion rand and a total contribution of over 31 billion rand to public welfare causes. The new license is valid for 8 years and is commonly referred to as a super contract worth **1800 billion rand (approximately 10.9 billion US dollars)**. 34% of the revenue will be injected into the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, flowing into charity, sports, arts, and community infrastructure. However, the significance of this contract goes beyond the commercial level—it is becoming a high-pressure node on two fronts of South African politics and judiciary.
The Vice President's sister-in-law holds 5.6%, and the opposition is up in arms
Looking at the shareholder structure of Sizekhaya, every layer is under scrutiny. KwaZulu-Natal businessman Moses Tembe serves as the chairman, with AmaZulu FC boss Sandile Zungu also a core member. Goldrush Holdings holds 40%, the state-owned National Empowerment Fund owns 20%, and Tembe's associated Bellamont Gaming holds about 7% through a vehicle co-managed with Khumo Bogatsu. The issue lies with Bogatsu—she is the twin sister of Vice President Paul Mashatile's wife.
The opposition almost pulled the trigger the day the appointment was announced. The Economic Freedom Fighters directly characterized it as "one of the biggest heists in the nation orchestrated by the ANC and the Vice President's family and friends." Democratic Alliance MP Toby Chance called for a comprehensive independent investigation in June, describing the deal as "a completely manipulated outcome" aimed at benefiting the Mashatile family, while accusing Minister of Trade and Industry Parks Tau of either incomplete or deliberately insufficient due diligence. Independent investigative media amaBhungane uncovered that Bellamont Gaming was only registered in December 2023, and Sizekhaya itself was only registered a few days before the bidding deadline on February 3, 2024—a timeline coincidence that casts a persistent shadow over the entire bidding process's compliance.
Tembe's response was firm: "Sizekhaya welcomes any review intended to reveal who we are and what we bring. However, we strongly condemn those baseless accusations, malicious rumors, mud-slinging, and personal attacks against shareholders and directors." Goldrush acknowledged in a statement that Bogatsu is related to the Vice President by marriage, but insisted that some members of the evaluation committee had professional dealings with Goldrush and Bellamont before the tender, which does not constitute improper influence. Mashatile himself defended in a parliamentary inquiry in May—"My friends have stolen nothing," while warning critics not to equate black business success with corruption.
Court injunction unsuccessful, review ongoing: Contract still reversible
This battle actually entered the judicial process as early as 2025. Tau delayed announcing the winner among eight bidders for a full eight months, first issuing a one-year "emergency" license to Ithuba to prevent a lottery shutdown, then being ordered by the Pretoria High Court to finalize the results by May 28, 2025, due to illegally extending the bid validity period. Tau announced Sizekhaya as the winner on schedule, but initially provided no scorecards, decision records, or legal basis.
Lekalinga—a consortium with Serbian background—and Ithuba immediately applied for access to complete decision records under the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act. Ithuba filed for review in July 2025, and in September, its sister company Ithuba Lottery applied for an emergency injunction, intending to prevent the handover before the review hearing. Ithuba lawyer Johan Roodt's core accusation was that Tau abandoned the scoring criteria in the tender document, allowed the National Lottery Commission to negotiate with Sizekhaya in advance, and issued the license while the consortium's financing was not yet fully in place.
At the end of November 2025, Pretoria High Court Judge Ronel Tolmay dismissed the injunction. Her ruling was clear: "Public interest requires the uninterrupted operation of the lottery. This court has no evidence that Sizekhaya is unable to fulfill its license obligations." However, Tolmay's ruling only cleared the way for the handover and did not end the legal battle. Ithuba's main review case along with Lekalinga's parallel challenge is still pending in the North Gauteng High Court.
Readers of the PASA official website should note the significance of this case—it is not just a license rotation in South Africa, but a touchstone being levered simultaneously from judicial, political, and media directions. Mashatile is widely regarded as a potential successor to President Ramaphosa, and the family connections and political networks exposed by a lottery license provide the opposition with ammunition to repeatedly fire in the succession battle. Whether the court ultimately confirms or overturns this license, the answer is still up in the air. Sizekhaya's lottery live broadcast has already aired on e.tv, and over 5500 new retail terminals nationwide have been activated—but if the court later rules the license illegal, retracting the already deployed setup will be more difficult than the initial issuance.
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This article is from "PASA-Global iGaming Leaders," a gambling industry news channel: https://t.me/pasa_news
Original in-depth gambling channel: https://t.me/gamblingdeep
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PASA Matrix: @pasa002_bot
PASA official website: https://www.pasa.news
