/ 15 October 2007

National Lottery back with a bang

The new National Lottery operator, Gidani, has recorded eight million ticket transactions despite all the hiccups that saw the game suspended for more than seven months.

“This was clearly a sterling performance,” Gidani’s public affairs corporate executive Thembi Tulwana said Monday.

She said the first lottery draw under Gidani outperformed any jackpot draw by far.

The lottery was suspended in March following an announcement by Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa that the lottery licence had been granted to Gidani.

The previous operator, Uthingo, asked the Pretoria High Court to interdict Mpahlwa to review his decision. It argued that Gidani’s board was populated with people who had political connections and that it did not have the necessary experience to run the lottery.

On September 29, Mpahlwa awarded the licence to Gidani again, and Uthingo announced that it would not appeal the decision as it was not in its interests to hold back the public with “legal niceties”.

Tulwana said Gidani has introduced a new game called Raise Your Game to make the lottery interesting and promote the idea of giving while playing.

The winning numbers on Saturday were 34, 48, 40, 4, 12 and 41, with the bonus number 38. No one won the grand prize of R15-million. It rolls over to the next draw, which will have an estimated jackpot of R18-million.