Lotteries across the world endured a tough time during the pandemic, but South Africa’s Ithuba is among those that have weathered the storm best.

Under the inspirational leadership of CEO Charmaine Mabuza, Ithuba has reinvigorated the South African National Lottery since taking over its operation in 2015. It had increased its sales every year until the pandemic hit. However, it is the organisation’s reaction to disaster that has marked it out as a winner.

For FY 20/21, ITHUBA reported an overall decline in sales of 8.5 per cent, which was pretty good considering that timeframe included two periods of complete lockdown and a total ban on lottery ticket sales in retail stores during May 2020.

Ithuba was able to quickly adapt to remote working having previously migrated to an electronic drawing system (RNG) and animated draw shows. As retail sales dropped (and disappeared at times), Ithuba has compensated through increased online sales through its banking partner apps and through its website and mobile channels. The Lottery now sells 40 per cent of its games through digital channels.

In addition to numerous lottery games, Ithuba runs a successful sports betting operation. In rising to the challenge of Covid-19, Ithuba is a very worthy winner of the Lottery Operator of the Year Award for Africa.