{"id":23274,"date":"2026-04-22T11:07:42","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T14:07:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=23274"},"modified":"2026-04-22T11:16:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T14:16:18","slug":"south-african-lotto-players-urged-to-withdraw-funds-by-may-31-as-ithuba-online-accounts-close-before-sizekhaya-takeover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/south-african-lotto-players-urged-to-withdraw-funds-by-may-31-as-ithuba-online-accounts-close-before-sizekhaya-takeover","title":{"rendered":"South African Lotto players urged to withdraw funds by May 31 as Ithuba online accounts close before Sizekhaya takeover"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South African National Lottery players must clear remaining Ithuba online account balances before May 31 as Sizekhaya Holdings prepares to take over lottery operations from June 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

South Africa.- South African Lotto players<\/strong> have been urged to withdraw all remaining funds from their Ithuba Holdings online lottery accounts before May 31 2026, as the operator prepares to shut down its digital platform ahead of Sizekhaya Holdings<\/strong> taking over National Lottery operations from June 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ithuba has warned that all existing National Lottery online accounts will close before the end of May, with players advised to “withdraw any remaining funds from their digital wallets as there will be no carryover of accounts or balances<\/strong>” between the outgoing and incoming operators, according to The South African.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The closure follows the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition\u2019s decision<\/strong> to award South Africa\u2019s Fourth National Lottery and Sports Pools Licence to Sizekhaya Holdings in May 2025, setting the stage for one of the country\u2019s most significant lottery transitions in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result, Ithuba will cease all operations<\/strong> at the end of May 2026, bringing its long-running role as National Lottery operator to a close after a final 12-month temporary licence extension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The outgoing operator had previously challenged the licence award in the Pretoria High Court, alleging irregularities in the tender process, including claims that elements of the bid evaluation process and scoring criteria were handled irregularly. However, the interdict application was dismissed in November 2025, clearing the way for Sizekhaya\u2019s June 2026 takeover<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

June takeover preparations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As the June handover approaches, Sizekhaya says preparations remain on track<\/a>, with the company recruiting staff, onboarding retailers<\/strong> and preparing marketing campaigns ahead of launch. The operator also highlighted its expanded access plans and bigger jackpot strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chief Operating Officer Fundi Sithebe<\/strong> has previously said the operator is focused on ensuring a smooth transition while expanding accessibility across the country through banking platforms, retail outlets and handheld devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sizekhaya has also outlined plans to modernise the lottery through new games, fewer rollovers, more frequent jackpots<\/strong> and improved winning opportunities, while also planning to reintroduce live televised draws as part of its wider transparency strategy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company says it aims to work with smaller B2B SMEs to improve access for players<\/strong> in rural and informal communities, while strengthening the National Lottery\u2019s wider social role in supporting communities in need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With just weeks remaining before the June 1 takeover, the shutdown of Ithuba\u2019s online accounts has become one of the clearest signs that South Africa\u2019s next National Lottery era<\/strong> is approaching.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> Eswatini police trace online gambling syndicate movement across Southeast Asia and Africa<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South African National Lottery players must clear remaining Ithuba online account balances before May 31 as Sizekhaya Holdings prepares to take over lottery operations from June 1.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2809,"featured_media":23280,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"","focusai_entities":"","focusai_location":"","focusai_target_profile":"","focusai_suggestions":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60023,60011],"tags":[74],"class_list":["post-23274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-news","category-south-africa","tag-lottery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2809"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23274"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23308,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23274\/revisions\/23308"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}