Opinion | The lottery enters a new era

In June, the company I am privileged to lead will become the fourth operator of the South African National Lottery. It will be an enormous responsibility to run what we consider to be a national treasure. We have ambitious plans to make the lottery more accessible, more technology-driven and more lucrative, creating substantially more income than previously for our regulator, the National Lotteries Commission, to distribute to good causes through the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF).

The lottery, of course, belongs to the government. Through the NLDTF, its proceeds support a wide range of vital activities all over South Africa, including in the arts, sports and non-governmental sectors, the latter covering health, welfare and social causes. This support is given without placing further strain on fiscus.

Many beneficiaries have come to rely on lottery funding not only to do their work, but for their survival. Allowing them to falter is not an option, but to keep them going, and to support more of them, it is essential for the National Lottery to not just maintain the status quo, but to keep growing. That means selling more lottery tickets and creating more games, and even offering better odds.

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We have a lot in the works in this regard, such as selling lottery tickets at supermarket tills, offering new games, more convenient online options (on an app or using QR codes to create tickets), an e-wallet that allows players to claim winnings without having to go to a shop, and more. These will all be rolled out in due course. (We also intend to increase the monetary allocation that goes to the NLDTF, which is now 25% of the lottery’s proceeds.

This will be made public soon.) But this is where we also need to take special care that, in expanding and streamlining the National Lottery’s offerings, and holding out more promise of fulfilling players’ dreams, we don’t inadvertently dash them. In essence, responsible play is about appealing to a player’s sense of what constitutes enough, much like drinking alcohol responsibly. There is no universal line in the sand, however, and “enough” ultimately depends on the individual. That said, we are especially cognisant of more vulnerable audiences.

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