A 67-year-old Ballito businessman has officially claimed his R167 million in winnings from the PowerBall Lottery on February 11.

An avid golfer who enjoys the North Coast’s beaches, the man says that the huge sum will not prompt any drastic lifestyle changes.

His first priority with the winnings – which are tax free – is to settle debts, after which he will make investments, donate a portion to charity and travel.

After the jackpot was initially not claimed, the man visited the ITHUBA regional office in Durban on Tuesday with his golden ticket in hand.

The ticket was a quick-pick selection from a wager of R150.

Naturally filled with excitement after checking his winning numbers on the internet, he kept his ticket in a safe until the money could be claimed.

Given the size of the sum, the man only told his immediate family and will receive complimentary trauma and financial counselling from ITHUBA.

This is the case for all lottery players who win a sum of greater than R50 000.

“This is the second highest PowerBall jackpot win since February 2019 when we had a R232 million winner, in July 2021 we also had a R158 million jackpot winner.

“With this recent big PowerBall jackpot win, it shows that there are various ways that tickets can be played through buying them at a retailer or playing through one of our digital channels, players have the option of selecting numbers manually or via quick-pick,” said ITHUBA CEO, Charmaine Mabuza.