I'm blessed': Jobless mom wins R158m PowerBall
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An unemployed mother who is the second-highest PowerBall jackpot winner in the history of the South African National Lottery said the winning numbers keep replaying in her mind. Stock photo.
“No, I'm not lucky. I'm blessed.”
This is according to an unemployed North West mother who has come forward to claim her R158m PowerBall jackpot purse.
National Lottery operator Ithuba announced on Monday that the woman had come forward to claim the winnings from the July 27 draw.
“I'm still in disbelief, overwhelmed yet very excited that I'm the R158m PowerBall jackpot winner. The money could not have come at a better time for my family as I lost my job last year due to Covid-19.
“The winning numbers keep replaying in my mind. I’ve been playing the same numbers across PowerBall and Lotto games for a while now. On Tuesday, I missed the live draw show for some odd reason, so I decided to check the draw results on my Absa banking app and I had the shock of my life.
“When I saw the winning PowerBall numbers, I knew that I had won the PowerBall jackpot of R158m, but I kept on checking the numbers throughout the day to ensure that I was not mistaken or that I would wake up from a dream,” said the winner.
She played using her banking app and spent R15 on the winning ticket using the manual selection method. She chose numbers 5, 12, 15, 28, 29, and PowerBall number 14.
She becomes the second-highest PowerBall jackpot winner in the history of the SA lottery. She is the biggest winner in 2021 to date, and the biggest online jackpot winner since Ithuba took over as operator in 2015.
When asked what she plans to do with her newfound fortune, she said: “I would love to travel to Durban, as I have never been there before and I have always wanted to go there for a family vacation at the sea.
“A portion of the winnings will go towards building and furnishing our dream home, with the help of an interior designer and the best architect, to ensure that everything I have always dreamt of as a little girl becomes exactly what I envision.
“We plan to invest a significant amount of our winnings, allowing for my family and I to live comfortably. The rest of the winnings will be placed in an education trust, towards our children’s education, and a portion will be donated to charity,” she said.
I kept on checking the numbers throughout the day to ensure that I was not mistaken or that I would wake up from a dream.
Powerball jackpot winner
Ithuba CEO Charmaine Mabuza congratulated the winner.
“Our approach has always been one that is innovative and technology-driven. We have moved with the times and utilised technology as one of the best tools to help fulfil our mandate and elevate the South African National Lottery to world-class standards.
“One way in which we have used technology is by spoiling our players for choice, by providing them with alternate, credible platforms to play their favourite National Lottery games. We wanted to offer players as much convenience as possible and our partnership with the banks provides our players with the convenience of playing Lottery games from anywhere, any time, on trusted platforms of their choice,” said Mabuza.
Omar Baig, head of transactional banking at Absa, said they were delighted that their app was used to claim the jackpot.
“Offering customers the opportunity to play the Lotto from the convenience of the Absa banking app, cellphone banking and online banking is proof of our commitment to cater for the everyday banking needs of our customers 24/7,” he said.
