Part time Tembisa builder wins R8-million Powerball Plus jackpot
He kept his winning ticket in his lucky jacket
A part-time builder from Tembisa has become the latest millionaire, winning the R8 217 004.70 PowerBall PLUS jackpot from the November 29 draw.
He became one of eight jackpot winners in the past two months that saw Ithuba paying over R285-million in jackpot prizes across the various National Lottery games. This win has raised optimism among sa powerball players in South Africa.
The father of three says 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 resumed playing early this year, after seeing the record-breaking jackpots Ithuba was delivering, and encouraged by the number of players winning daily. He tried his luck once more, and won R200, giving him faith that the lotto was 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. This Christmas, he says, he will 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 a 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, eight players have become instant millionaires through our various games.
“This year alone, we have paid over R3.1-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 to create more jackpot winners.
Winners of R50 000 and above, and jackpot winners, all received free financial advice and trauma counseling, courtesy of Ithuba.
