Early retirement for R121m PowerBall winner

A Free State man who won a massive R121 million jackpot last week will retire early and help his wife to complete her degree.

It took a mere two days for the PowerBall jackpot winner to come forward, but only after checking his ticket 30 times to make sure he had actually won.

The lucky winner took his thoroughly checked winning ticket to national lottery operator Ithuba’s Bloemfontein office on Friday.

The winner bought his ticket at Belvera Supermarket in Bloemspruit, Bloemfontein.

“I checked my ticket about 30 times and I still could not believe that I was the big winner that everyone was talking about.

“When I arrived at the National Lottery office in Bloemfontein, I became both excited and anxious when it was confirmed that indeed I had won the R121 million PowerBall jackpot”, said the winner, who prefers to remain anonymous.

Ithuba said the winner is not a regular PowerBall player, but plays Daily Lotto regularly.

“I usually play Daily Lotto because it is cheaper and there’s a chance to win every day. When I won a bit of money from Daily Lotto, I decided to invest in playing the PowerBall and it paid off big time!”

Quitting job

The winner, who is left with only a few years before retirement, has opted to stop working immediately.

“I do not intend to continue working, I have worked hard enough and I am grateful to be granted an opportunity to retire earlier than I was expecting, without worrying about finances.

“My wife, however, has been longing to complete her degree, and I vow to support her on that.”

Asked if he was planning to donate some of his fortune in any way, the winner replied: “I am a religious man, I will certainly be donating to my church.

“In addition, I have a house helper who has been working just a few days a week, and a gardener who only comes in once a week. Both of them have been with my family for years now, but I was never able to give them more work.

“Now that I can afford to pay them more, I will be employing them on a full-time basis and I trust that this will be helpful to them too.”

He added: “Although I like my furniture, I am ready for new beginnings. I will be buying new furniture and I will split the existing one between my two employees.

“I also want to pass on our family caravan to our helper. She has always liked it and I think that it will put a smile on her face.”

Following the extensive financial advice Ithuba provided, the new multi-millionaire has decided to invest most of his winnings.

“The financial advice I received really opened my eyes to a lot of possibilities I was not aware of.

“I have decided to invest a large portion of my winnings and it feels good to know that because of this decision, my children and grandchildren will be taken care of for life.”

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.