June 2020 to June 2021 – How SA Powerball rollovers fared

Most South Africans have witnessed the Powerball jackpot rolling over multiple times. The more times this happens, the greater the main prize becomes.

In late June 2021, the SA Powerball had rolled over 13 times. It obviously dips each time the jackpot is won – by one or more people – but it’s an interesting exercise tracking the recent ebbs and flows of victorious Powerball winning numbers since June 2020.

A full 12 months is a decent sample size of the draw’s biggest wins historically.

In October 2020, it was well over R120 million. It took 20 rollovers for the prize to get to that significant size. More than two months and 17 rollovers later, December 2020 yielded another hefty win. This one didn’t quite reach R120 million, but was thereabouts. In May 2021, another 17 rollovers brought the jackpot to R112 million.

Two people shared the prize, pocketing R56 million each.

“I’m already blessed with everything that I need. I will use the winnings to buy my son and his wife a brand new house and car. I will also help by looking after my mother financially and assist my best friend, who is going through financial difficulties at the moment. I will invest the rest of my winnings,” exclaimed one winner.

“We also want to find the perfect plot of land to build our dream home and finally, to invest a significant portion of our winnings. My wife and I are financially cautious people and we want to educate our kids about financial literacy,” enthused the other.

In between the aforementioned double-figure rollovers for nine-figure jackpots have been other shorter runs for smaller prizes.

This interesting graph shows a period from 8 December 2020 to 21 January 2021, when 11 rollovers took the SA Powerball jackpot to R60-plus million. Then there was 2 February to 5 March 2021’s nine rollovers for a main prize of R43 million.

That went to a dedicated Limpopo entrepreneur. “My father and I have our own family business and some of the money will go towards expanding and growing the company. This will also allow me to create jobs within my community,” said the winner at the time. “As a father of three young kids, something very important to me is for my children to get the best education. I will save a portion of my winnings to be able to give them the opportunity to go to university one day to make their dreams become a reality.”

There have been other occasions, namely in mid-2020 and early 2021, when rollovers didn’t exceed four or even half of that. This naturally meant the prizes were smaller, but appreciated by the winners nonetheless.

“Never in my wildest dreams had I imagined that one day I would win so much money, I was surprised and excited to find out that I had actually won the jackpot,” said one of 2021’s winners. “My family is important to me, I want to enjoy my winnings with my husband and two kids. A portion of my winnings will go towards my children’s education and to a charity that’s very close to me.”