The end to the South African lotto

"Tata Ma Chance, Tata Ma Millions!" is the selling line for the South African Lotto, which in fact dishes out multi million grand prizes twice a week. However, this week it appears that it was the National Lotteries Board that took the chance...it did not properly complete investigations into a new operator for the massive organization. It is very important on both sides of the fence that the proper investigations are done to make sure that everyone involved has their ducks in order.

On Friday the lottery was temporarily suspended on the directions of the government after a high court in Pretoria ordered a review of the licensing process. They want to make sure that everything is going through the process as it is supposed to and that there are no loose ends that need to be tied. The internet gambling industry is really complicated because there are many ways that people can become involved without the proper licensing, however if they are caught there will be some dramatic consequences.

Bloomberg’s business news agency reports that in January, Uthingo Management Pty, whose owners include GTECH Holdings Corp. and Tattersall's Ltd., challenged the award of the lottery operating license to Gidani Pty, whose investors include Athens-based Intralot SA.

The Pretoria High Court on March 5 found the National Lotteries Board didn't complete its investigations into the operators. This is a very important factor in the process, you have to make sure that everyone involved has a license and that everyone involved is up to date. If you come across a situation like this one you will see that there may come a lot of procrastinations and dead ends because the courts are going to make sure that they do everything they can to get to the bottom of the situation. During the process, the courts are subject to come across even more problems, however there are times when the problems are as simple as just one.

"Uthingo's license expires at midnight and there is no legal basis to extend it,'' said Trade & Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa in an e-mailed statement Friday. “I will announce the appointment of a National Lottery operator within a short period which I expect to be about one month,'' he said.

South Africans spend more than 3 billion Rands ($379 million) a year on lottery tickets, one percent of which the operator keeps as profit.

Casino News: The end to the South African lotto

The end to the South African lotto