A part time builder from Tembisa, Johannesburg has become the latest millionaire, winning the R8 217 004.70 Million PowerBall PLUS jackpot from the 29 November 2019 draw. He becomes one of 8 jackpot winners in the past two months, that saw ITHUBA pay over R285 Million in jackpot prizes across the various National Lottery games.

The father of three, says that he stopped playing the lottery a few years back after he thought that the lottery numbers were rigged and only certain people won. He only started playing again early this year, after seeing the record breaking jackpots ITHUBA was delivering and the number of players winning daily. He tried his luck once more and won R200 giving him faith that the lotto is in fact not rigged. Asked how he found out about his winnings, he said he watched the draw live on TV that night and recognised some of his numbers but was not sure if he had indeed won the jackpot. It was only three days later that he checked his ticket, which he had kept in his lucky jacket, that he realised he had indeed won the jackpot.

Thus far, the only person he has told about his winning is his wife, and he only told her after he came to the ITHUBA head office to verify his ticket. He is not planning on telling his children about his winning because he fears they might tell the rest of the community and expose him to unnecessary attention, but this coming Christmas, he says he will be able to afford to buy them presents they wish for.

He does not plan to make any drastic changes to his lifestyle and will continue working and living in Tembisa. He plans to invest a significant amount of his winnings and the rest he will use to renovate his house and take his family on holiday.

Busisiwe Msizi, Head of Corporate Relations at ITHUBA, says “We are extremely happy that we have managed to make another player a millionaire this festive season. What is more exciting is that, in the last two months, six players have become instant millionaires through our various games. This year alone, we have paid over R2.8 Billion in lottery winnings and this is a number that keeps growing daily. When we took over as the National Lottery operator, one of the promises we made was to make the lottery more exciting and create more jackpot winners. We are glad that we continue to make this possible for our players.”  

As per all winners of R50 000 and above, the jackpot winner received free financial advice and trauma counseling courtesy of ITHUBA.

A domestic worker from Pretoria has become the latest millionaire scooping R70 873 741.30 in the PowerBall PLUS draw of 3 September 2019.

The single mother of one, played the winning ticket at her local Shell Garage and spent only R7.50 using the manual selection method. Speaking to ITHUBA, she explained that she initially thought only four numbers that she played had won. It was only after she told her employer that she had won with four numbers that her employer made her aware that she had in fact won the big jackpot. She says she immediately rushed back to the Shell Garage where the cashier advised her to write her name and ID number on the back of her winning ticket and go to the offices of ITHUBA to claim her winnings.   

Sharing her life story, she says she was drowning in debt as she is the sole bread winner in her household. The night before the draw, she says she put her ticket in the Bible a friend had given her and went on her knees and prayed to God give her a sign that soon all her troubles will be over. Continuing her story, she says she could not sleep and again at 3am, she asked God to bless her and her family with good fortunes.

The winner has already resigned from her job as a domestic worker of over 30 years, and plans to use her winnings towards renovating the family house she shares with her daughter, grandchild and younger brother. She also plans to help her daughter with her tertiary fees so that she can be the first in their family to get a tertiary qualification. She is also planning to buy a five bedroom house in one of Pretoria’s leafy suburbs, take her family to Cape Town for the holidays and buy a Smart phone.  

Asked how she picked her winning numbers, she says she always plays the same numbers but sometimes picks numbers that are popular and drawn often. She plans to continue playing the lottery even though she has already won the jackpot and plans to keep her winning receipt in her Bible as a reminder to always thank God for her fortunes. After receiving free financial advice and trauma counselling as part of ITHUBA winners’ support programme, the winner plans to invest most her winnings and live off the interest from her investments.

The recent R38 million PowerBall PLUS jackpot winner played with the intention to win, and on 21 September 2018 – his intentions materialised.

The winner from Cape Town said although he claimed his winnings a few days ago, he still could not believe his luck in hitting the R38 million jackpot.

“I am still in disbelief as I have never won from playing any of the Lottery games, and my first ever win is the highly sought after jackpot,” he said.

The reserved winner said his dad, whom he trusts, is the only person he told about his winnings and he didn’t intend to tell anyone else. The 35-year-old bachelor said although he didn’t have immediate plans for his money, he planned to take care of his retired father and settle his outstanding debt.

Spending an average of R150 a week on LOTTO and recently started playing PowerBall, the winner said he used the affirmation for abundance principle whenever he played, but he never thought it would manifest in him hitting the jackpot.

“I told myself that I was going to win every time I placed a bet, but I never thought about winning the jackpot. I went to the same retailer where I placed my bet two days after the draw to check if my ticket won anything and to my surprise, I was told to go to the Ithuba offices. I knew at that moment that I had won but I wasn’t sure how much it was,” he said.

Excited, the winner said that he was looking forward to travelling with his new money and doing what he loves most – spending time outdoors. Adding that although the money would make a huge difference in his life, he plans to keep his 9 – 5 job, live a simple life and continue playing LOTTO and PowerBall.