In what has become a trend, Ithuba once again emerged victorious after former lottery operator, Gidani, was unsuccessful in the latest of a number of court challenges aimed at attempting to reclaim the lottery licence.
Today’s North Gauteng High Court judgement follows on the heels of a Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) decision which in March dismissed with costs an appeal by Gidani against an earlier adverse judgement. The SCA in Bloemfontein ruled that there was no “justifiable” merit for an appeal and that there was “no reasonable prospect of success” on the matter.

The SCA application related to an unsuccessful 2014 legal challenge by Gidani against Trade and Industry Minister, Rob Davies for having awarded the third National Lottery licence to Ithuba.
Gidani has failed to reclaim the lottery licence.

Outside the Pretoria High Court, an elated Ithuba CEO Mrs Charmaine Mabuza said: “We are delighted with the outcome of the litigation and assure the South African public that we will continue to focus on invigorating the National Lottery and delivering a world class service. This judgement affirms our view that Ithuba is the legitimate and preferred licence operator of the South African National Lottery.”

A lottery ticket bought from Shoprite in Glen Ridge, Soweto won the R20-million Lotto Guaranteed jackpot from the Saturday, 30 April draw, turning a mid-50s factory worker into a multi-millionaire.

She had bought the R20 winning ticket around midday on that Saturday and was the only one that matched all six Lotto numbers scooping the guaranteed jackpot.To celebrate last Wednesday’s April 27 Freedom Day holiday, Ithuba raised the stakes by putting up a R20-million guaranteed Lotto jackpot for the Saturday evening’s draw. The prize has been claimed by a shocked and emotional woman from Soweto last week.

She had kept her winning ticket inside her Bible and thought it had been a big mistake that it somehow matched all six numbers. She’s thrilled that she will finally get to fulfill her dream of retiring early and acquire a home by the sea. “This will transform my life,” she said while struggling to hold back tears.

She said her other dream of buying her daughter a house will finally also be fulfilled. She’s excited that her retirement money will now be like an added bonus as she enters a new life as a South Africa’s newest multi-millionaire.
This is the Lotto game’s 31st R1-million-plus jackpot winning ticket since June last year when Ithuba took over the running of the lottery.

A total of 39 Lotto jackpots have been won since June 2015, only eight jackpot winners in the Lotto received pay-outs of less than R1-million. Meanwhile, Ithuba has already created 53 millionaire winners across all lottery games since June 2015, making one millionaire a week on average.

The Saturday was all about winning in the lottery as another ticket bought at Cape Town’s Bonteheuwel Post Office in the Western Cape, won the R1.5-million Lotto Plus jackpot, at the same draw. Ithuba has already seen 100 jackpot winners across all lottery games with the Lotto Plus leading after having recorded a total of 43 jackpot winners. More than half of all jackpot winners across all the games have walked away with R1-million-Plus winnings.

A R15 lottery ticket has scooped this year’s second biggest Powerball Jackpot, turning a Gauteng retail store worker into an instant multi-millionaire.

The lucky winner somehow didn’t even watch the live Powerball draw on TV in which her ticket matched all five numbers and the Powerball, instantly changing her life and making her R31.6 million richer.
She woke up the next day, got ready for work as usual, not knowing that she had just entered SA’s millionaires’ club. She only found out while at work that she has won big in the lottery when she visited the same shop where she bought her life-changing R15 lottery ticket.

The pleasant surprise seemed way too big a secret for her to keep; the lucky winner confided in her brother who was the only person she shared the good news with.Anxiety and disbelief however still got the better of her throughout the day as she found herself constantly checking her ticket which she had kept safely in her wallet.

She said she may have at least once in every hour kept double-checking it making sure what she was seeing was real. “I didn’t know whether to cry or scream, I just didn’t believe what I was seeing,” she said.
Although she says she’s never thought she would one day win a lottery jackpot, she always fantasized about driving big cars. “I’ve always seen myself driving a big car like a BMW X6,” she said while adding that she considered herself a careful spender.

She had recently won R4 500 in one of the lottery games; little did she know that barely three months later she was to win a life-changing R30-million plus Powerball Jackpot.
She’s a regular lottery player that spends between R70 and R100 every month using different numbers playing the Lotto, LottoPlus and Powerball games.

The lucky mother of one who is also expecting her second baby soon is planning to acquire a new home and car with some of her winnings. She also plans to travel and use some of the money as start-up capital for her own business.
Now that her life has turned for the better in a big way, she’s now ready to take up a new hobby of going to the gym regularly and get to spend more time with her family.

This year’s biggest Powerball jackpot was R42-million also won by a Gauteng player. Other big Powerball jackpots this year include R23.2 million won by a KwaZulu-Natal player in January while a Pretoria lottery player walked away with R21.4-million last month.

Powerball and Powerball Plus draws get broadcast live on e.tv at 9pm on Tuesday and Friday evenings while ticket sales close 30 minutes before every draw.

A lucky Lotto player could be South Africa’s newest multi-millionaire if they match all six numbers in Saturday’s draw with a guaranteed R20-million jackpot at stake. Tickets for the Saturday draw with a jackpot are on sale from today, Thursday, April 28.

To celebrate Wednesday’s Freedom Day, Ithuba has decided to up the stakes for Saturday evening’s Lotto draw by putting up a guaranteed R20-million jackpot.

The Lotto game is already leading the pack with most R1-million-plus jackpots won since Ithuba took over the running of the lottery in June last year. Lotto has already created 30 millionaires from its 38 jackpots which have been won already.

The game has already recorded over seven million winners in the last 11 months. Lotto is SA’s oldest National Lottery game which celebrated its 16th birthday last month. The first ever Lotto draw took place on March 11th in 2000.
The Lotto game has since grown over the years and includes an extension giving the second opportunity to enter the same numbers into another draw, the Lotto Plus.

The Saturday evening’s live Lotto draw will take place at 9pm on SABC 2. Be sure to get your ticket and Phanda Pusha Play for your One Thing.