Three months after it started operating South Africa’s lottery, Gidani’s gaming machines are still a problem for players, who have submitted numerous complaints. Punters say there are non-functioning machines at several stores and so they have been forced to drive for miles in order to play or check their lotto tickets.

Storeowners and managers have also said they are losing clients since machines give constant troubles. "We get very busy and with the machines also giving us problems, we have even longer lines and customers complain," the owner of a store in Kenilworth explained. Also, it takes a long time for technicians to fix the machines, usually two to three days.

A very angry customer, who requested not to be named, said he went to eight stores on Tuesday, the day before the lotto draw, and could not buy a ticket since machines were offline in all of them. “It's ridiculous. The Lotto is just not appealing any more. I know a lot of people not playing,” the man added.

In reply to complaints, Guidani informed through its spokesperson that lotto machines are, in general, functioning properly and they have received only a few reports about network problems and offline devices.