R56m PowerBall winner saw her ticket on one-year anniversary of husband’s death

The one-year anniversary of her husband's death is a day a stay-at-home mom will never forget, as it was on this day that she checked her PowerBall ticket and won R56m. 

The widow, whose identity has not been released, said through Lotto operator Ithuba that she had been playing the same numbers since PowerBall launched in SA.

“I was not aware that I had won until I came across an article in my local newspaper looking for one of the R56m PowerBall jackpot winners,” she said.

She said she decided to check her ticket on the one-year anniversary of her husband’s death.

Ithuba on Wednesday announced that the woman — who is the second PowerBall jackpot winner from the R112m draw that took place on Tuesday May 4 — had officially come forward to claim her equal share of the winnings.

The winning ticket was purchased at the Meerensee Dried Fruits and Nuts in Richards Bay, in northern KwaZulu-Natal.

The PowerBall jackpot winner spent only R7.50 on the winning ticket.

The mother said she was planning on sharing her winnings with her mom, her son and her daughter-in-law, and would also be helping a friend out.

“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,” she said.

Ithuba CEO Charmaine Mabuza congratulated the winner.

“Our winners come from all walks of life and are spread out across all provinces. 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 said.

The winner has received free financial advice and trauma counselling which the national lottery operator offers to winners of R50,000 or more.

TimesLIVE