'I'm not going to stand in the wind any more:' Street vendor is R86m Lotto winner

The Cape Town man who won the R86m lotto jackpot will no longer have to wake up at 3am to go to the taxi rank to sell fruit to provide for his family.

The 42-year-old street vendor from Durbanville in the Western Cape said his life changed overnight and he couldn’t have foreseen anything like this happening to him.

Talking to eNCA on Wednesday morning, he said it was a life-changing day when he found out he had won the jackpot.

“It is amazing. It changed our lives completely overnight. This is what we want, this is what everybody wants,” he said.

The winner said he is going to invest the money, spend a portion of it and buy his wife the house he promised to buy her.

“There is no pressure on me any more. I am never going to wake up at 3 o’clock in the morning and go stand in the rain to sell bananas. I am not going to stand in the wind any more. I am not going to push my car when it is stuck in the mornings,” he said.

He added that all his previous challenges will no longer be there but he is going to encounter new ones.

He advised that anything can happen and that people mustn’t give up or lose hope and focus. “Always do your best and always be kind to people. Be a giver, pray for people, and never forget there is God.”

He said he told his friends about the winnings and some family members. He said since he was popular in Durbanville and the town is small where almost everyone knows him, he has moved house.

“As a trader, I worked with a lot of people. In Durbanville everybody knows who I am and know I won the Lotto so I couldn’t stay. We had to move for safety reasons.

“Not any threat on me. Just that where I traded is at the taxi rank so you don’t want to be among people when you know you have a lot of money knowing what people are capable of. You read the newspapers and see what people do to other people because of money.”

He said Ithuba offered him financial and decision-making advice. “I am not sure if they are going to give me all the money at once or what is the process at the moment,” he said.

The new multimillionaire said he was in a position to lift up his family and help where needed.

“I will go to France next year and I will watch every single game played by the Springboks [at the 2023 Rugby World Cup]. That was my dream.”

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