Lottery licence decision set aside

Judge Willie Seriti ruled that the process followed by the National Lotteries Board was flawed. According to a report in The Witness, 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. Mpahlwa yesterday said he would study the ruling before deciding on a way forward. ‘I have to look at the contents of the judgment so that a decision on the way forward can be made,’ he said. The ruling puts the lottery licence matter back in Mphahlwa’s hands – with Uthingo’s March 31 licence expiry date looming. A Mail & Guardian Online report notes that the judge said this finding made it unnecessary to rule on legal argument that the winning Gidani consortium should also be excluded because its shareholders included two members of the ANC national executive committee, Chris Nissen and Max Sisulu. Full report in The Witness Full Mail & Guardian Online report