South Africa braces for final National Lottery draw under Ithuba as days remain before Sizekhaya takeover
SA’s last National Lottery draw under Ithuba is scheduled for May 29, while players have until May 31 to withdraw balances before Sizekhaya Holdings takes over.
South Africa.- The countdown to the Sizekhaya Holdings takeover of South Africa’s National Lottery licence has entered its final phase, with Ithuba’s last draw scheduled for May 29 ahead of the June 1 handover.
The May 29 draw will mark the end of Ithuba’s operation of South Africa’s National Lottery after 11 years running the licence, according to EWN. Ithuba has meanwhile warned that all existing online lottery accounts will close before May 31, with players advised to “withdraw any remaining funds from their digital wallets as there will be no carry-over of accounts or balances” between the outgoing and incoming operators, according to The South African.
The June 1 transition will hand control of South Africa’s National Lottery and Sports Pools licence to Sizekhaya Holdings for an eight-year term following one of the country’s most closely watched gaming-sector transitions, with retailer onboarding and operational rollout preparations continuing ahead of launch.
Sizekhaya and the National Lotteries Commission (NLC) staged a joint media and stakeholder rollout event in Johannesburg on May 21 ahead of the handover. Sizekhaya Holdings Chairperson Moses Tembe described the National Lottery as “a national instrument for development, opportunity and social impact,” according to Fullview.
Sizekhaya has also launched a live countdown clock on its official website as the National Lottery takeover enters its final days. The company has outlined plans for more attainable jackpots, fewer prolonged rollovers and the return of live televised draws as part of its strategy to reshape the lottery experience under the new licence period.
Sizekhaya COO Fundi Sithebe said the consortium planned to make jackpots “more meaningful, more frequently” through reforms aimed at reducing prolonged rollovers, alongside efforts to modernise the lottery experience through digital systems and the return of live televised draws.
Final jackpots under Ithuba
The transition also arrives amid elevated jackpot activity during Ithuba’s final weeks in operation, with recent Lotto jackpots in May 2026 climbing towards the R100m mark (US$5.5m) and PowerBall rollovers reported at up to R196m (US$10.8m) ahead of the June handover. South African media reports have also highlighted questions around rollover jackpots and outstanding prizes as the sector prepares for one of its biggest operational shifts in more than a decade.
The changeover closes a significant chapter for Ithuba, which first assumed operation of South Africa’s National Lottery in 2015. The operator’s original eight-year licence expired in 2023 before being extended on a year-to-year basis pending the incoming licence transition.
During its tenure, Ithuba oversaw several major PowerBall jackpots, including wins worth R232m (US$12.8m), R178.9m (US$9.9m) and R158m (US$8.7m), while also expanding the National Lottery’s digital footprint and online participation systems.
Michelle Van Trotsenburg, Ithuba’s head of marketing and corporate relations, said the operator had witnessed both player and community impact during its time running the National Lottery. “We’ve seen people’s lives change, and we’ve seen projects that might have fallen by the wayside that are then funded through the National Lottery’s good causes money,” Van Trotsenburg said.
