Retailers not allowed to sell or validate tickets
THE NATIONAL Lottery Operator, Ithuba, has confirmed that people will only be allowed to participate in the lottery via online sales.
This comes after Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel said on Saturday that the lottery was not an essential service and that supermarkets were not allowed to sell lottery tickets.
He said he would be instructing the operator to issue a statement to provide clarity on the matter.
On Monday, Ithuba said it had instructed all retailers to stop selling lottery tickets. The operator said they were in support of the government regulations and said they would comply.
“As such, Ithuba has informed all participating retailers to cease the sale of all National Lottery tickets and validation of winning tickets.
“Ithuba continues to urge players to play their favourite National Lottery games online on the following platforms:
* National Lottery website – nationallottery.co.za
* Mobile app which is easily downloadable on all smartphones – via * the National Lottery website and the App Store (iOS).
* On-line banking, namely FNB, Absa, Standard Bank and Nedbank.
These platforms remain accessible to players during Covid-19 lockdown.
“We are in full support of the government’s efforts to curb the spread of the virus and we will take all steps necessary to safeguard the well-being of our players,” they said.