Control of the National Lottery is at stake as JSE-listed hospitality and gambling giant Hosken Consolidated Investments battles it out with Ithuba, the operator running the country’s biggest gambling licence since 2015.
This comes with a 1% fee on Ithuba’s revenue as well as powers to appoint or fire employees and, importantly, directors.Its shareholders, in turn, are businesspeople Charmaine and Eric Mabuza. HCI says the contract between them prohibits paying off the debt early and it has refused to acknowledge these repayments of more than R420 million.
“HCI does not look to make short-term investments ... HCI’s investment would run for a number of years, most probably for the entire duration of the licence.”Ithuba won the Lotto licence after a bidding process in 2014, with its takeover of the Lotto happening in mid-2015. HCI came to the rescue with funding ultimately totalling R341 million – and a hefty interest rate of 25%.