Ekurhuleni man changes approach to win R63 million Lotto jackpot
A man from Ekurhuleni in Gauteng has stepped up to claim the R63 million jackpot win that was revealed earlier this month.
It took a while for the winner to come forward, but South Africa has its latest multi-millionaire after the lucky 38-year-old guessed the victorious numbers correctly.
He said he almost misplaced his ticket forever, but had eventually recovered it and kept it in a nearby cupboard for safekeeping. Thankfully, the amount was not lost to largest unclaimed prizes in lottery history.
The winner also usually tried his own set of numbers, but on this occasion went for the quick-pick selection. This change in approach, indeed, proved fruitful.
“Since playing from 2013, I would normally use a combination of my own lucky numbers, whether its family birth dates, or my children’s age,” he enthused.
“On Sunday morning, I was at home, and my wife was at work, after checking the winning Lotto numbers – when the results came up I just couldn’t believe it. I phoned my wife immediately, who also just didn’t believe that I had won, she just did not buy into my story.
“We have lived with our extended family for many years until we decided to move out and rent a house in the same neighbourhood, now we have an opportunity to buy our own home.”
His wife, who he met on an online dating app seven years ago, added: “Today is our day, it has finally come and we are unable to express our emotions, because the news of winning is so surreal.
“He has been playing for years and would always claim that we had won, when in fact we didn’t, so it was hard to believe him again when he told me over phone.”
In order to play the SA Lotto, entrants need to select six main numbers from a pool between 1 and 52.
The jackpot is won if all six digits are guessed correctly. The chances of getting all six numbers right and winning the jackpot are about 1 in 20 million. There are also smaller prizes for guessing fewer numbers correctly. The chances of guessing even just half the numbers – so three digits – correctly are about 1 in 70-odd. If that’s upped to four correct numbers, then the chances go to about 1 in 1020.
And the draws happen twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, just before 9pm South African time. So you don’t have to wait around more than three days in any given week for the next draw.
There are also the Lotto Plus 1 and Lotto Plus 2 options, which will need to be ticked/checked upon entering the draw.
A 69-year-old man from Chatsworth, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, recently bagged the Lotto Plus 1 jackpot to the tune of R35.1 million. It was a great way for the former salesman to start the last month of 2021.
“This is really unexpected, I am truly surprised. It came at the right time, since it is December and all the festivities are beginning,” he exclaimed.
