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Parliament has heard that new lottery operator Sizekhaya Holdings is not generating ticket sales as originally forecast.

However, the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) said this is normal during a transition to a new operator.

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The High Court in Pretoria last week set aside the contract to Sizekhaya after it disagreed with the process followed by Minister of Trade Parks Tau in the appointment.

The contract to Sizekhaya has been under intense scrutiny because of shareholders alleged political links.

Tau has on Tuesday told Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Trade that he’s still applying his mind about appealing the court ruling.

Sizekhaya Holdings is the fourth operator to be granted a licence to run the national lottery.

In setting aside the contract, the court made no finding on the probity of the company.

Rather, it questioned Tau’s decision to form a committee to review the tender recommendations.

Questioned by members of Parliament (MPs) on Tuesday on the performance of the operator since it was granted the licence in May 2025, the NLC’s executive manager, Tintswalo Nkuna, said Sizekhaya had underperformed by 39% on its bid proposal.

“They had anticipated to generate around R3.5 billion in ticket sales. The actual sales that have been generated since the beginning of June 2025 up until September 2026 is R2.1 billion.”

Nkuna said Sizekhaya had also not met its adjusted targets for 2026/27.

“It’s also an underperformance of 21.7% below their revised forecast, as was submitted with the business plan.”

However, she was quick to point out that the NLC had anticipated the underperformance, adding that a dip in revenue was not unusual following a licence takeover due to scepticism from lottery players.

Nkuna said the NLC was closely monitoring Sizekhaya’s performance and has been receiving its weekly share from ticket sales.

SIZEKHAYA WILL CONTINUE TO RUN LOTTERY FOR NOW

Sizekhaya will continue to run the lottery, at least for the next year, while the legal battles are finalised.

The board of the NCL has come to the defence of Tau over his decision to have appointed a team to review recommendations for lottery operators that was set aside by a court last week.

Board chairperson Tembinkosi Bonakele said he doesn’t believe Tau acted outside of his powers, nor out of step with previous court rulings on a minister’s discretion in the award of a lottery tender.

The High Court in Pretoria last week also gave Tau six months to restart the tender process.

Unsuccessful bidders, including former lottery operator Ithuba, went to court to challenge the tender award to Sizekhaya Holdings.

The court disapproved of Tau creating what it viewed as a parallel process to evaluate tender bids.

On Tuesday, Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Toby Chance questioned why the NLC board did not push back against Tau’s actions.

But Bonakele said he still believes Tau was entitled to appoint advisors to consider the recommendations.

“It is fair to say, without criticising the judiciary, that there are some contradictions as to how the process should be managed, at least by the minister.”

Bonakele said Tau was attempting to probe factors that are not easily determinable from a tender bid, and not covered in the board’s recommendations as to who should be granted the operating licence.

“Things like probity, things like BEE [Black Economic Empowerment], things like whether the games were properly defined as lottery games.”

Bonakele added that it was also difficult to assess foreign bids for probity, which is fluid by its nature, and could change between the time a recommendation is made and the minister makes an appointment.

Bonakele said the board is eagerly awaiting a decision on whether Tau will appeal the court ruling.

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