The winner of the R12 Million jackpot from the 2nd March 2019 Lotto PLUS 1 draw has come forward. The 34-year-old Zimbabwean man who has been living in South Africa for 10 years now, was overwhelmed with emotions as he told ITHUBA of his humble background.
“My parents passed away when I was still very young and my sister had to step in as a mother figure to my siblings and I. Growing up in a child-headed home was tough – the poverty just never improved”, told the winner.
“When I was in my early 20s, my friend who was already living and working in Durban suggested that I come to look for work in South Africa to help ease my circumstances at home. I stayed in Durban for 5 years and during that time, I worked a lot of different casual and domestic jobs. One of the companies that I used to work for during their annual trade in Durban, recognised my hard work and offered me a permanent job at their head office in Johannesburg. This move changed my life. I was able to rent a decent place to stay and was able to help my family back at home to have food on the table every day. I thought that my life could not get better than that”, explains the winner.
“A few weeks ago, I decided to give LOTTO a try for the first time and I won just over R200. I decided to play again and this time I ticked the PLUS 1 and PLUS 2 options. I did not think much about the numbers, I just randomly selected them. I could not believe it when I learnt that I, in fact, had a winning ticket – I won R12 Million!”
The winner told ITHUBA that he was worried about how he was going to use this money towards a long term financial stability. “I was so relieved to learn that ITHUBA offers psychological counselling and financial advice which have both helped me a lot. I will use my winnings to buy myself a house, renovate my family home in Zimbabwe, buy a car and invest the rest of the money.”
Commenting on who is eligible to play the Lottery and claim winnings, ITHUBA says anyone who is 18 years or older, holds a valid proof of identity and has a valid South African bank account is permitted to play, win and claim from the National Lottery. All winners claiming R50 000 and above qualify to receive psychological counselling and financial advice which are part of ITHUBA’s free winner services package.
