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.