Bitter-Sweet Windfall for R56 Million South African Powerball Winner

Exactly one year ago, a South African woman lost her husband. Imagine her disbelief when she found out that she was winner of a R56 million Powerball jackpot draw on the one-year anniversary of her husband’s passing.

The widow, who has chosen not to make her identity public, said that since Ithuba launched Powerball in South Africa, she has been playing the same numbers every week.

She wasn’t even aware that she was a winner until she came across an article in her local newspaper looking for one of the R56 million winners.

After realizing that she was the one, she described the bitter-sweet moment – elation that her life was set to change for the better, and sadness that her husband wasn’t alive to share her joy.

The woman is one of two winners of the total R112 million prize that was won from the May 4th draw.

She bought her ticket at the Meerensee Dried Fruit and Nuts store in Richards Bay, KwaZulu-Natal – spending a mere R7.50 on her ticket.

The winner plans on sharing her winnings with close family members, including her mother and her married son. She also hopes to help out some of her friends in need.

As per the winner:

“I’m already blessed with everything that I need. I will use the winnings to buy my son and his wife a brand new house and car. I will also help by looking after my mother financially and assist my best friend, who is going through financial difficulties at the moment. I will invest the rest of my winnings.”

Also commenting was Ithuba CEO, Charmaine Mabuza who noted that lottery winners come from all walks of life and are spread across all provinces in South Africa.

”This is precisely what Ithuba has set out to do when we were granted the licence to operate the national lottery in 2015, increase the national lottery footprint and make our games accessible to all South Africans,” she added.

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