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The lottery is not classified as an essential service and tickets cannot be sold during the closure of Covid-19, Commerce and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel said during a press conference on Saturday.
Despite the restriction on ticket sales, Ithuba went ahead with a massive R228 million Jackpot PowerBall and PowerBall Plus draw on Friday night, and the draw also took place on Saturday night for Lotto. Friday was the biggest lottery prize since 2015 and the fourth largest since the lottery was launched in South Africa nearly two decades ago.
Patel, who oversees the lottery, said he had told officials in his department to instruct the National Lottery Commission (NLC) to issue a statement “clarifying that [the sale] lottery ticket is not allowed during this period. ”
GroundUp reported Friday that while all other forms of in-person gambling had been halted due to strict closing regulations, retail lottery ticket sales continued.
Patel was answering a question about why the sale of lottery tickets was still allowed.
A statement issued by NLC spokesman Ndivuho Mafela on April 3 indicated that there was an exemption allowing the sale of lottery tickets during the shutdown.
“As the regulator of the National Lottery, the NLC has taken note of the presidential closure directive and as such has activated an exemption clause for the lottery game in South Africa,” Mafela said in the statement.
The three specific questions about this exemption sent to Mafela, Ithuba Busi Msize spokesman and DTI Trade and Industry spokesman Sidwell Medupe prior to Friday’s story release were ignored by all three.
But Patel’s response during the press conference cast doubt on whether the NLC had requested, or had been granted, an exemption on the sale of lottery tickets.
“The rules are absolutely clear … [they] they are not an essential product, ”Patel said in response to the question. “They are not in the regulations as an essential product and therefore Lotto tickets cannot be sold … They should not be sold at this time.”
Patel said he had been told Friday that there were “claims” that lottery tickets were being sold.
“I asked my officials to make it very clear to the NLC that they needed to issue a statement clarifying that Lotto tickets are not allowed in this period,” said Patel.
In response to the Minister’s instructions, the NLC on Saturday afternoon issued a statement confirming that “the sale of lottery tickets at retailers is not classified as an essential good.”
The statement added: “The sale of National Lottery tickets at retail terminals is prohibited during the national closure.”
It did not explain why the NLC had previously stated that it had an “exemption” that allowed the sale of lottery tickets to continue.
Although the minister addressed the ban on the sale of lottery tickets in general, it appears from the statement that the NLC only plans to stop sales at retail outlets and allow online ticket sales.
During the past few weeks, both the NLC and Ithuba have actively promoted the sale of tickets online, through the lottery application and banking platforms.
Republished from the base
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