Dylan Bettencourt
A 72-year-old pensioner from KwaZulu-Natal is the winner of the R100 million Powerball jackpot from the 16 November draw.
The man, who is a retired engineer, took an entire week to claim his winnings.
Explaining the perplexing delay in collecting his prize, he said that he kept rechecking his lotto ticket to make sure he had actually won the jackpot.
“I was hoping to catch a big fish and instead caught a whale. I had been playing for almost 14 years now, every Tuesday and Friday. The most I would win was between R30 to R60,” the winner said.
The pensioner said the winnings had not changed his holiday plans, as the Covid-19 pandemic threatens to cancel more December holidays anyway.
After purchasing his ticket for R7.50 he chose the numbers manually. After seeing that he had hit it big, he only told his daughter and made her promise to keep it a secret.
The man said he was planning on consulting a private banker for financial advice and how to invest his winnings.
National Lottery Ithuba CEO Charmaine Mabuza said the winner is proof that you never know when you are going to win the lottery.
“While the pensioner has been playing for 14 years, you never know when it will be your turn to win, so keep Phanda, Pusha, Playing,” the CEO said.
Mabuza added that all winners receive extensive financial advice to protect their financial future at no cost to the winner.
The same 16 November draw saw a second individual from Limpopo win R50 million in the Powerball Plus draw.
Image source: @TimesLIVE
