Unemployed Mom Wins Second-Largest PowerBall Jackpot in History

Unemployed Mom Wins Second-Largest PowerBall Jackpot in History

An unemployed woman from the North West has described herself as ‘blessed’ after coming forward to claim the R158 million PowerBall jackpot from Tuesday 27th July.

She became the second-biggest winner in South African lottery history when she matched the numbers 5, 12, 15, 28 and 29, plus the Powerball of 14.

Nobody had won the jackpot since 4th May and there were no other tickets that matched all the numbers on 27th July, so the lucky lady gets to receive the full amount rather than having to share it with anyone.

Having lost her job in 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak, she was overjoyed to receive such a windfall when she spoke to lottery officials.

“I'm not lucky, I'm blessed,” she said. “I'm still in disbelief, overwhelmed yet very excited. The money could not have come at a better time for my family as I lost my job last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.”

The winner had been playing the same numbers across different PowerBall and Lotto games for some time, and was shocked to see them all come up. She purchased her R15 ticket on the ABSA banking app.

“On Tuesday, I missed the live draw show for some odd reason, so I decided to check the draw results on my banking app, and I had the most unexpected shock of my life,” she recalled. 

“When I saw the winning PowerBall numbers, I knew that I had won the Powerball jackpot of R158m but I kept on checking the numbers throughout the day to ensure that I was not mistaken or that I would wake up from a dream.”

The winner is determined to put the money to good use, with plans to set up her children for the best education possible and also to help out her family. 

She added: “I would love to travel to Durban, as I have never been there before and I have always wanted to go there for a family vacation at the sea.

“A portion of the winnings will go towards building and furnishing our dream home, with the help of an interior designer and the best architect, to ensure that everything I have always dreamt of as a little girl, becomes exactly what I envision.

“We plan to invest a significant amount of our winnings, allowing for my family and I to live comfortably.”

The biggest jackpot ever seen in PowerBall went to a Capetown man who worked in a blue collar job. He won R232 million in February 2019 and chose to stay anonymous.

Published: Wednesday 4th August 2021

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