Biggest Lottery Winners

A record-breaking PowerBall jackpot came to the boil after virtually a whole summer without a winner, jumping up to R232 million for the draw on 19 February 2019. A single ticket matched all the numbers and the winner came forward to claim their money one week later, opting to stay anonymous.

It was revealed, however, that the ticket belonged to a man in his 50s from Cape Town who worked in a ‘blue collar’ job and had no intention of quitting work. He picked his own numbers and spent just R22.50 on buying his tickets at an OK Mini Mart in Tygerdal. His main focus for the money was to give his children the best education possible.

A young professional couple from Gauteng pocketed this giant jackpot – the second-largest in history at the time. They had played via the FNB banking app and spent just R15 on a Quick Pick ticket.

The ticket ended up bringing a long run of draws without a winner to an end, and left them in an elated mood as they looked ahead to a lifetime with no financial anxiety. The first thing they planned to do was go on an adventure abroad to celebrate their incredible luck.

This was the second-largest jackpot in the history of SA PowerBall at the time, and went to a player from Ballito on the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal. The lucky player spent just R150 on their Quick Pick ticket.

No more information was revealed about the winner, who stayed anonymous. The jackpot had previously rolled over for 24 consecutive draws.

This huge jackpot went to a man from the Western Cape, who switched up his strategy for the draw and decided to choose his own numbers as well as getting a Quick Pick. The numbers had special significance to him and they turned out to be a perfect match to the winning line, although initially he just got a notification to say he had won R10.

The call to alert him to his multimillion-rand windfall came a little later, and allowed him to dream of finally seeing Manchester United play overseas. He added: “I will use my winnings to ease life for my family and relatives because we come from humble beginnings. As for my wife, I’ll buy her the best coffee machine on the market. I know she’d prefer a live-in barista, but the coffee machine will have to do!”

History was made in this draw as a woman from the North West became South Africa’s biggest-ever online winner, bringing an end to a run of rollovers lasting almost three months. She spent just R15 on her ticket, using the ABSA banking app to pick her regular numbers.

She said the win came at a much-needed time, as she had become unemployed the previous year in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. The lucky lady said she would buy a new ome, do lots of travelling and donate some of her winnings to charity.

There were four winning tickets in the biggest Lotto draw of all time, each worth R27.5 million. It took 21 rollovers to create the R110 million jackpot, with no winners for two and a half months.

One of the lucky winners left it almost a full year to come forward, claiming their prize just a day before it expired. He was described as a 58-year-old from Ravensmead in Cape Town, but did not want any further information to be divulged.

A single player used the Capitec banking app to win this staggering jackpot - the second-largest in Lotto history at the time. It had been almost three months since the last time that someone had matched all six main numbers, taking the top prize towards record territory.

One more rollover might have seen it become the biggest ever, but the winner could still lay claim to being the luckiest-ever Lotto player as they did not have to share the R103 million. She claimed her prize within a few days and revealed that her daughter was the first person she told, adding: “When I received the call from the bank, I burst into tears.”

This huge win came after a three-month stretch without anyone matching all the numbers. The winner did not come forward immediately, leading to calls for everyone to check their tickets. It was also revealed that the lucky entry was sold at Pick n Pay, Hazeldean Square, Pretoria.

The winner eventually staked her claim a few weeks later and expressed her immense gratitude and excitement. She decided to remain anonymous.

The Cape Town winner of this big jackpot revealed that she wanted to give R2 million to a petrol attendant who had always been polite and helpful.

She also intended to buy a house with a garden for her grandson to play in, and pay for her daughter to quit her job as a call-centre agent so she could fulfil a dream of studying towards a psychology degree.

Two ticket holders matched all the numbers in this draw to net more than R39 million each. One winner was revealed to be a mother from Johannesburg, who planned to purchase a house and a car, and invest in her own business.

The second winner, a panel beater, came forward just a few days later. He was a regular player who had used a banking app to buy a Quick Pick costing R200 and was overjoyed to win, saying that it would give him ‘more freedom to explore my passions without limit’.