Prominent Durban businessman and AmaZulu Football Club owner Sandile Zungu’s Gold Rush Consortium is among eight shortlisted companies that have made a bid to operate the country’s biggest tender, the National Lottery.

Some of the companies shortlisted are the Thebe Investment Corporation, Hosken Consolidated Investments led by Johnny Copelyn and Yunis Shaik, the Umbulelo Consortium led by Afrirent Holdings, and Giya Games.

Only one of the shortlisted companies will get the seven year licence worth R180 billion.

“The Mercury” understands that the tender document costs R55000 while there is a R3 million non-refundable fee payable by the bidders.

Zungu, who is the former Vice-Chancellor of Mangosuthu University of Technology, said the bidding process was still at an early stage.

Asked if he was confident that his company Gold Rush Consortium would win the tender, he said: “For now I cannot comment about the tender.

In due course, I will make a public comment.”

The National Lottery tender is considered to be one of the biggest in the country. Since its inception, it has attracted interest from politicians and businesspeople.

The licence for operator Ithuba is set to expire in June next year and the process of awarding the new licence has been gaining momentum.

Then-Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Ebrahim Patel extended Ithuba’s term by 18 months after it expired last year.

It has been reported that there were growing concerns about allegations of flawed processes that seemed to have forced the current minister, Parks Tau, to postpone the announcement of the new lottery operator, which had been scheduled for the end of September.

The National Lottery Commission (NLC) has been engulfed by corruption scandals. Earlier this year, a crackdown on NLC fraud and corruption resulted in mass resignations of NLC officials who were fingered in a slew of corrupt activities linked to hijacked non-profit organisations as well as firms belonging to close family and friends.

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) was tasked, under Proclamation 32 of 2020 and signed by President Cyril Ramaphosa to investigate the fraudulent conduct of the entity.

Former Hawks spokesperson Hangwani Mulaudzi was the subject of an investigation with prominent artists such as Arthur Mafokate, actress Terry Pheto, who won an Oscar for the movie Tsotsi, and fashion designer Thula Sindi.

“The SIU investigations found fraud and corruption at the NLC to the value of R344 million, where board members and senior employees of the NLC and their family members and friends enriched themselves with NLC grants allocated for projects to assist in mostly impoverished communities,” said SIU spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago.

The Mercury