FAQs

You must be at least 18 years of age to play any National Lottery game in South Africa.

Lotto entries cost R5.00 per board, with the Lotto Plus 1 and Lotto Plus 2 additions costing R2.50 each. PowerBall entries also cost R5.00 per board, with the PowerBall Plus option costing an additional R2.50. Daily Lotto entries are R3.00 apiece.

Entries for the most recent Raffle game were R50 each, though this may be subject to change in future Raffle draws.

Each lottery has a different schedule for draws. To find out when each lottery’s draws are set to occur, visit the Draw Times page.

Ticket sales close approximately 30 minutes before each lottery’s draw takes place.

You can watch the most recent lottery draws take place on the Watch Live Drawings page.

There are several ways to participate in lottery games, whether it's by visiting a retailer to purchase tickets, taking part through your bank, joining in online or even participating through your phone. Visit the How to Play guide for more information on each method of play.

The National Lottery has over 8,000 registered retailers all over South Africa - use the Store Locator to find the nearest one to you.

There are different ways to go about claiming a lottery prize, depending on whether you bought a ticket online, from a retailer, via your bank or using your phone. Visit the How to Claim guide for more information on each method

If you bought your ticket from a retailer, there are different places to claim your winnings depending on the size of your prize. If you have won up to R2,000, you can collect your winnings from any lottery retailer – though some will pay out up to R5,000 at their own discretion. If you have won between R2,000 and R50,000, you can claim your winnings at any Post Office. If you played online, via your bank or through your phone, all prizes up to R50,000 are paid into your account.

Ithuba’s regional offices are the only places you can collect jackpot prizes of R50,000 and above. You can find the addresses of every regional office on the Where to Claim page.

You have 365 days from the date of the winning draw to claim.

If the deadline has passed and a prize has not been claimed, it is allocated to the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF) for distribution to various good causes.

Prizes of up to R5,000 are paid to you in cash immediately, if collected from a licensed retailer. Prizes between R2,000 and R50,000 claimed from a post office are paid by Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) or by cheque. EFTs take up to 72 hours to clear, while cheques can take up to 10 business days. Prizes above R50,000 - which can only be collected from one of Ithuba’s offices - are paid by EFT only.

You can choose to remain completely anonymous if you win a prize of any size. The Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI) prevents any personal information about you being shared or disclosed by Ithuba without your written consent.

You can choose to reveal your identity if you wish, though most lottery winners opt for a compromise, revealing personal details such as profession or hobbies without giving away any identifiable information. Ithuba also offers support to all winners, whether they choose to go publc or not, and you can withdraw your consent to publicity at any time.

If your winning ticket has been damaged, you can take it to one of Ithuba’s regional offices for verification. You may still be able to claim your prize if the serial number is intact and you can provide sufficient proof that the ticket belongs to you.

If you have lost your winning ticket, you may still be able to claim your prize by visiting one of Ithuba’s regional offices. If you can provide proof that you purchased the ticket, the prize can still be awarded to you – although in some cases, the National Lottery may wait up to 365 days before paying out the prize. If the lost ticket resurfaces in that time, further investigation may be required.

Jackpots are partly dependent on how many tickets are sold for a particular draw, so prior to a draw Ithuba will estimate what the jackpot will be worth based on how many tickets are expected to be sold. The exact value of the jackpot is calculated after ticket sales have closed and the total revenue is known.

Guaranteed jackpots are offered during special events. In these cases Ithuba will set the jackpot to a minimum amount regardless of how many tickets are sold. If ticket sales are higher than expected and the estimated jackpot exceeds the guaranteed one set by Ithuba, the higher jackpot will be given away instead.

You can now play a range of world lotteries over the internet. You can see lotteries available to play on the Buy Tickets page.

There are two types of service: lottery betting websites and lottery concierge websites. Lottery betting websites allow you to bet on the outcome of a lottery, rather than buying a ticket for it. The rules, prizes, and odds of winning are just the same as if you did buy a ticket.

Lottery concierge websites have agents located all over the world who go out and purchase tickets on your behalf for the lottery you have entered. The ticket is then scanned and uploaded to your account. Smaller prizes are usually transferred to your online account, but you would need to claim larger prizes - including jackpots - in person, according to the rules of the lottery you entered. An agent of the website would contact you to arrange all of this.

When playing via a betting website, supplementary draws such as EuroMillions raffles may not be available as you're not actually buying a ticket for the associated lottery. These options may be available when playing through a concierge service, but it is advisable to check this before you purchase a ticket.

Check out some of the stories of winners you played international lotteries here. Could you be the first big winner from South Africa?

Lottery winnings are not subject to any taxation in South Africa, though if you play in a syndicate, you may be eligible to pay Donations Tax. For more information, visit the Lottery Tax page.

Ithuba is the current South Africa National Lottery operator, a company responsible for conducting and delivering lottery games. Only one company at a time can conduct the National Lottery, and the licence is renewed every five years, giving other companies the chance to bid for control of it.

Ithuba has been the National Lottery’s operator since June 2015, and is responsible for the introduction of Daily Lotto, amongst other games.

Fifty percent of the cost of any National Lottery ticket is allocated to the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, which is responsible for allocating the money to various good causes across South Africa. The remaining 50 percent funds prizes for future draws, commission for retailers, and covers the lottery’s operating costs.

The largest jackpot in South African lottery history was a R232 million PowerBall prize, won in February 2019 by a single ticket holder from Cape Town. The ticket holder wished to remain anonymous but did release a statement revealing he would not leave work and would instead focus his new-found fortune on his children’s education. Go to the Biggest Winners page to see some other record-breaking jackpots.

The next Raffle is scheduled to launch late this year, with tickets going on sale shortly after. The exact date of the Raffle is yet to be announced, but keep checking the Raffle page for more news about the draw.