Player from KwaZulu-Natal Claims Record R153m PowerBall Plus Jackpot
A player from KwaZulu-Natal has come forward to claim the biggest ever PowerBall Plus jackpot. The player won the R153 million prize in the draw on 10 July, instantly making them one of the biggest lottery winners in South Africa’s history.
The identity of the winner has not been disclosed but it was revealed that they played spent R300 for ten weeks’ worth of Quick Pick tickets through the Standard Bank app. It took only three draws for the lucky winner to land the nine-figure jackpot. He matched the winning numbers 07, 13, 23, 37, 39 and PowerBall 07 in the 10 July draw.
“My partner and I are not regular lottery players, but my in-laws keep track of all lottery jackpots and always encourage us to play”, the winner said. “We decided to play on my Standard Bank banking app, using a quick pick selection method and playing for 10 draws with R300. In the first draw, I won less than R10, and R28 on the second draw, which the Standard Bank app notifies me of each time I win something.
“On the third draw I did not receive a notification, so I concluded I had not won anything. I then received a call from Standard Bank notifying me that I was the winner of the PowerBall Plus jackpot — I could not believe it!”
He went on to describe how the money would make a big difference to the lives of he and his family. “We have calculated how long this money will last us, taking into consideration inflation rates at worst-case scenarios. We realise that we really are set for life. This windfall is a massive gift to us. It has fast-forwarded our investment plans, to a point that was beyond our imagination.”
Despite the enormity of the prize, the winner said that he and his partner are “financially cautious people” so would not quit their jobs. “We are now under no pressure and do not have to worry about our financial future even when we decide to retire.”
The congratulations poured in after the winner claimed the huge prize. Busisiwe Msizi, the head of corporate relations at National Lottery operators Ithuba, said, “In the past four months, our biggest winners have been using their banking Apps to play their favourite games. This indicates that our strategy of driving our players to play their favourite games using digital platforms is working, which is crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The coronavirus crisis had a huge impact on lotteries around the world but PowerBall draws were able to continue as normal during the period when South Africa was under lockdown. Players were not able to purchase tickets from retailers but could still use online methods of entry, such as the National Lottery website and banking apps like the one used by this latest winner.
Hitting such an enormous jackpot lands the player in the top tier of biggest lottery winners. It is by far the largest PowerBall Plus jackpot ever won - almost doubling the R83 million won in April 2019 - and the second-biggest jackpot across all games, behind the record R232 million PowerBall jackpot from February 2019. It’s also the biggest ever jackpot won online in South Africa.
Following the record-breaking win the PowerBall Plus jackpot reset to just under R2 million for the subsequent draw on Tuesday, 14 July but there were no winners, so the rollovers started again. The next PowerBall draw is on 17 July and there’ll be an estimated R31 million jackpot on offer in the main draw and R4 million in the PowerBall Plus draw.
Published: Wednesday 15th July 2020Latest Lottery News News Archive