Carletonville player becomes lottery millionaire, April's mega-winner still unknown

A resident of a mining town in Gauteng spent R10 on a Lotto ticket — and struck riches.

The national lottery operator, Ithuba, says the Lotto jackpot from the Saturday, June 6, draw paid out R8,129,457.60 (R8m) to one winner.

The winning ticket was purchased at Bargain House Driefontein, East Driefontein Centre, East Park Crescent, Carletonville, Gauteng.

The player has not yet come forward.

“We hope that the winner will make contact with us soon. We encourage all players, especially those from the Carletonville region who recently visited Bargain House Driefontein, to check their tickets. Once the winner comes forward, the first step will be to validate the winning ticket and offer the winner free trauma counselling and financial advice, as we do with all winners of R50,000 and above. Our main priority is to help the winner digest the news and for them to enjoy every step of this life-changing win,” said Busisiwe Msizi, head of corporate relations at Ithuba.

Since the lockdown restrictions were relaxed on June 1, Ithuba said a number of players have visited its offices countrywide to claim their winnings. The biggest claim so far was R16.8m paid to a winner in the May 16 lotto draw.

Ithuba said it is still waiting for this year’s biggest PowerBall jackpot winner — who won a whopping R135m with a ticket purchased on April 28 — to claim the prize.

Tickets which expired during the lockdown, between March 27 and June 1, will be accepted for claims until end-October. “No player sitting with a ticket that expired during this period should be anxious about losing their winnings,"" said Msizi.