Frustration mounts as players struggle to place their bets under the new licensed operator.
Picture: iStock
National Lottery players have taken to social media to express their frustration with changes and teething issues at the new lottery operator, Sizekhaya.
South Africans accustomed to placing bets via banking apps experienced challenges after several apps encountered technical difficulties.
Here are the apps experiencing issues
Standard Bank, African Bank, Capitec, and Tyme Bank were among the banking apps where most users were unable to place bets.
Users either saw a greyed-out Lotto section in their app or a notice informing them that the bank was moving its services from the previous Lotto operator to Sizekhaya.
“During this time, Lotto purchases and related services may be temporarily unavailable,” a notice to bank users read.
Sizekhaya clarified that most banks are signed up as partners, including banks that have historically been excluded.
In partnering with more banks, they have ensured that, as promised, there is a greater reach and offering for South Africans.
“In some isolated cases, users have experienced difficulty purchasing tickets through their
banking apps. We are working with individual banks to resolve these issues and also
recommend that users update their banking apps, as in some cases this has resolved the
issue,” Sizekhaya explained.
It said there are other ways to buy a ticket.
“Temporary difficulties experienced by some users on individual banking apps do not mean that players are unable to participate in the National Lottery. Tickets remain available through other approved National Lottery channels, including retail outlets, while bank-specific technical issues are being resolved.”
The operator also said it was working on an app for users to play Lotto on, but when they took over the app had not yet been launched, to the frustration of some online. It responded to questions, saying the app was still in development.
Ticket prices
Ticket prices have also increased, catching players by surprise, with PowerBall costs doubling in what many consider a steep hike.
One social media user said, “What is going on with PowerBall? I am not paying R15 for a ticket; soon we won’t afford to even play.”
Sizekhaya said the revised pricing has been structured to support larger, more consistent jackpot offerings while keeping participation accessible to players.
“The new game matrix has also been designed to improve players’ odds of winning, giving them a better chance of winning across the prize divisions.”
The prices are as follows :
- PowerBall and PowerBall Xtra – one PowerBall board is R10.00 and a PowerBall Xtra board is R5.00.
- Lotto, Lotto Plus 1 – one Lotto board is R5.00, one Lotto Plus 1 board is R2.50
- Lotto 5 Max – one board is R2.50
- Daily Lotto – one board is R3.00
- Match Play – each single-entry board game costs R2.00
Lotto numbers have also been reduced from 58 to 52, and from 1 to 50 for PowerBall.
Sizekhaya has described this as an attempt to improve players’ chances of winning.
Delays in the transfer of historical winning data
National Lottery players have previously expressed frustration at being unable to claim their winnings from the previous operator, Ithuba.
Sizekhaya said that detailed information has not yet been made available to them, creating an obstacle to verifying and paying certain prize claims associated with tickets purchased before the licence transition.
Sizekhaya says it is ready and able to honour all legitimate winnings once the necessary information becomes available.
“Those most affected by this situation are people who purchased National Lottery tickets in good faith and who may now be unable to immediately access winnings because information required for verification is unavailable,” Chief Operating Officer at Sizekhaya, Fundi Sithebe, says.
“Our commitment is very simple. If a ticket is valid and a prize is due, we want that winner paid as quickly as possible. We are ready to do exactly that. But we are unable to do this without historical records required to complete the verification process.”
Ithuba denied this, telling The Citizen that it had sent the relevant information to Sizekhaya on 1 June.
“Ithuba has fulfilled all its obligations relating to the transition process and has consistently prioritised the interests of National Lottery participants until the conclusion of its licence period. We are confident that all transition requirements within our scope were completed in full and in accordance with the prescribed processes,” Ithuba shared.
