On 9 April 2019, the National Lottery Operator, ITHUBA, announced that two players had won the R77.7 Million PowerBall jackpot, each bagging over R38.8 Million. The two winners have now come forward to claim their prizes!
One of the winners, a man in his 50s from Kroonstad, Free State was keen to share his story of humble backgrounds. He told ITHUBA how he had been battling to make ends meet since he was retrenched from his job as a truck driver in 2017.
"Since my retrenchment, I have been working odd jobs at different places. One thing that I never stopped doing, is playing the Lottery. I have been a loyal Lottery player for more than 10 years now and I have always believed that one day, I will win the jackpot," he said.
The winner said that one of the saddest things he had to endure after losing his job, was to watch his daughter drop out of tertiary to work a small paying job, so that she could help support the family.
"This really broke my heart, I felt like my family had lost an opportunity to get out of poverty, we were really looking forward to her graduating and leading a fulfilling career-life," he said.
"With this enormous PowerBall win, the chains of poverty have finally broken, our lives are going to change for the better. I will use the money to build a house for my family, ensure that my daughter goes back to school, buy my dream car and finally, invest a large portion of my winnings, to secure my family’s future," said the winner.
As part of the Winner Services package, ITHUBA offers free psychological counselling and financial advice to all winners over R50 000 and above.