Minister of Trade and Industry Mandisi Mpahlwa will study a judgement handed down by the Pretoria High Court setting aside his decision to award the national lottery licence to Gidani.
”I have to look at the contents of the judgement so that a decision on the way forward can be made,” he said at the launch of the Risk Capital Facility Two programme in Sandton on Monday.
Earlier in the day, Pretoria High Court Judge Willie Seriti ruled that the process followed by the National Lotteries Board had been flawed.
He said the board had failed to investigate the shareholdings in the first preferred bidder, Gidani, and the second preferred bidder, Uthingo. That information was material for the minister to apply his mind properly under the Lotteries Act, he said.
The board’s failure to obtain information about the shareholders had resulted in Uthingo being recommended as the second preferred bidder despite Education Minister Naledi Pandor — ”obviously” a political office bearer — having shares in a company with a stake in Uthingo.
The judge said this finding made it unnecessary to rule on legal argument that the winning Gidani consortium was also excluded because its shareholders included two members of the African National Congress national executive committee, Chris Nissen and Max Sisulu.
The ruling effectively puts the whole lottery licence back in the minister’s hands.
Uthingo chief ‘ecstatic’
Current lottery holder Uthingo’s licence expires on March 31. Its chief executive, Dr Oupa Monamodi, was ”ecstatic” about the ruling, as he had always maintained that the process was flawed.
”For Uthingo, it’s business as usual … The logical outcome of the ruling is that Uthingo will be expected to feature in some way as the national lottery operator,” he said.
The Democratic Alliance also welcomed the ruling. ”It appears that the two preferred bidders, Gidani and Uthingo, were appointed without either the minister or the National Lotteries Board even bothering to do a proper investigation to find out who the shareholders of these two companies were,” DA spokesperson Pierre Rabie said.
He said the National Lotteries Board and Mpahlwa ”are fast building a reputation for botching important procedures” in running the national lottery. This was illustrated by the much-delayed appointment of lottery distribution agencies last year.
”It therefore came as no surprise that the blame for the bungled lottery licence again falls squarely on the shoulders of the minister and on the board,” Rabie said.
Gidani chairperson Dr Bongani Khumalo said it needs to study the judgement before making a decision about ”the road ahead”. He said Gidani had spent hundreds of millions of rands preparing to take over the lottery.
”Our style is not to be deterred. We will continue to follow the process of the law. We are determined to serve the people of South Africa,” he said. — Sapa