In what has become a trend, Ithuba once again emerged victorious after former lottery operator, Gidani, was unsuccessful in the latest of a number of court challenges aimed at attempting to reclaim the lottery licence.
Today’s North Gauteng High Court judgement follows on the heels of a Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) decision which in March dismissed with costs an appeal by Gidani against an earlier adverse judgement. The SCA in Bloemfontein ruled that there was no “justifiable” merit for an appeal and that there was “no reasonable prospect of success” on the matter.

The SCA application related to an unsuccessful 2014 legal challenge by Gidani against Trade and Industry Minister, Rob Davies for having awarded the third National Lottery licence to Ithuba.
Gidani has failed to reclaim the lottery licence.

Outside the Pretoria High Court, an elated Ithuba CEO Mrs Charmaine Mabuza said: “We are delighted with the outcome of the litigation and assure the South African public that we will continue to focus on invigorating the National Lottery and delivering a world class service. This judgement affirms our view that Ithuba is the legitimate and preferred licence operator of the South African National Lottery.”

DESPITE having already created 85 millionaires in just over a year, lottery operator, Ithuba, has also raised more than R1-billion towards good causes.

The SA Rio Olympics team which recently returned from Brazil with 10 medals was among the beneficiaries. This was South Africa’s best ever performance at the games since re-admission into major world sporting events.
The SA Paralympic team, currently competing in Rio and raising the SA flag high also benefitted from the allocations towards good causes. The National Lotteries Commission spent R2.4-billion supporting more than 3000 projects between June 2015 and June 2016. Ithuba has contributed R1.1-billion towards that expenditure.
The South African Sport Confederation and Olympic Committee, Athletics South Africa and The Sports Trust were among the 18 beneficiaries in various sectors, including education, arts and culture, to have been financially supported by the NLC recently.

Ithuba had raised the money in just 12 months of operating the lottery since it was awarded the third national lottery licence. Ithuba hit the ground running as it has already modified all lottery games making them more appealing and exciting.

Ithuba’s unmatched bold lottery offering has already ensured that players win often, as a result 132 jackpots have been won across all lottery games. This includes a total of 47 Lotto jackpots where winners took home R1-million-plus while the popular Powerball game, known for its bigger jackpots, has already produced 18 millionaires.
Second opportunity games, the Lotto Plus and Powerball Plus have also produced 12 and 8 millionaires respectively. More than 500-million lottery tickets have been sold across the country and payouts amounting to more than R100-billion have been made.

Ithuba is pleased with the Pretoria High Court’s decision to dismiss Gidani’s application for leave to appeal with costs. Gidani’s latest application is a sequel to a number of unsuccessful attempts by them to claim an entitlement to operate the National Lottery.
Ithuba’s CEO, Mrs Charmaine Mabuza, stated that: “Ithuba operates as a world class operator and has brought back the fun and excitement for players of the National Lottery. Ithuba’s gaming portfolio has already contributed over R1 billion to the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF). Ithuba promised to invigorate the Lottery and increase player participation by offering higher rewards.  To date there have been over 500 million tickets sold and more than R2.4 billion has been paid out to all winners. Ithuba is delighted that the National Lottery is seeing increasing player participation. “

ITHUBA’s reinvigoration of SA’s lottery games has seen Powerball overtaking Lotto as the most popular lottery game.

Since Ithuba took over as SA’s third national lottery licence operator in June last year, it has significantly increased the number of locations where the lottery may be played, making the lottery games accessible to more South Africans.

The introduction of the Powerball Plus game which presents players with an extra chance to win and an improved Powerball game with a modified prize structure that allows for bigger jackpots, saw average weekly sales skyrocketing to over R100-million. This represented a 25% year on year sales growth during December and January.

Between November 28, 2015 and January 16, 2016, weekly sales stood at an average of R108-million as Ithuba’s expanded marketing spend; increased prize pay-out percentage and intensified jackpot awareness initiatives, among others, had grown the players™ interest in the lottery games.

During the same period in November 2014 and January 2015 under the previous lottery operator, the weekly average was R86-million.  During this time, Ithuba achieved a weekly high of R140 million which was the second highest total in the history of the South Africa National Lottery.

This was achieved despite Ithuba not having an ideal start with part of its resources focused on a protracted legal battle with the previous lottery operator.

However not to be distracted by this but rather armed with a bold vision and unmatched strategy to bring the fun and excitement back into the lottery games, Ithuba came out strong and still managed to work hard to provide the country with a lottery service every week.

Ithuba’s bold marketing drive, new games and the modification of the existing games has already grown the lottery and led to good revenues as it successfully brought back interest in the lottery games which was fading away.

The fact that the Powerball sales have now surpassed those of Lotto is a clear indication of the massive positive impact the newly introduced changes by Ithuba have made.

Ithuba had forecast that by June 2, 2016, annual weekly sales would average R94-million, with total annual sales totalling R4.9-billion; however it has already exceeded projections  since the introduction of the improved Powerball and Powerball Plus. In comparison, the last full year of the previous operator’s operation only achieved an R86-million weekly sales average missing its projections by almost 50%.

Ithuba is pleased to confirm that it is on track with its mission aimed at growing and reinvigorating the lottery to ensure that good causes benefit more and players enjoy additional chances of winning.