In South Africa, if you bought your ticket at a lotto retailer you will have to check and compare your numbers after the draw. Depending on the amount that you’ve won, you can claim your winnings at the retailer (below R 2 000) or you have to go to the post office (between R2 000 and R 50 000). For pay-outs more than R50 000 you will have to go to the Ithuba Regional Office.

If you placed your bet online or on a mobile app, you will get a notification that you’ve won, or you will get a reminder to check your numbers. Some of the apps will deposit the pay-out directly into your account (below R 50 000) and will contact you if the amount is more than R 50 000.

Depending on where and how you’ve placed your bet, you have a period of 365 days to claim your winnings in South Africa from the day of the draw. If you don’t claim your winnings, the funds are paid into a Trust fund and are distributed and donated to charity funds in desperate need of life saving amounts.

Why people don’t claim their winnings

Have you ever wondered what happens to the money that was never claimed after the lucky numbers were drawn? The bigger question here, you might wonder, is why wouldn’t someone go to claim their winnings?

There are a few factors that play a role in the “why” people don’t claim their winnings. They might have lost their ticket(s). They don’t check their numbers to see if they’ve won anything. They are not aware of the prize tiers where you can receive a pay out if you’ve only picked a few of the drawn numbers. Or they don’t want to waste their time to claim small amounts.

Unclaimed winnings are not just about the big win. With every draw there are thousands of people that don’t claim the smaller amounts they’ve won. All of these small amounts add up to a rather huge amount. The time period to claim your funds are different all over the world and every year there are billions of winnings that remain unclaimed.

Homeless shelter receives a donation within 365 days waiting period

Everyone decides how they want to spend their winnings. A man from Johannesburg decided to share some of his winnings and donate it to a local homeless shelter in his community, after he received a pay out of R6 483 828.80. He placed his bet of R 100 using his mobile app.

He has no plans to change his lifestyle or to quit his job. He prefers to carry on with his normal life, but it will be a debt-free life after settling all of his debt and also make sure that his two teenagers receive the best education possible.

After receiving financial advice, he decided to invest a portion of his money. He also advised other winners to seek financial advice once they have received a large pay-out.