The Mpumalanga businessman who won over R28 million in South Africa’s Lotto draw late last month all but banked on winning a top prize one day.
He did not know at the time that he had won the jackpot when he was notified that his prize was in excess of R250,000.
As it turned out, to be specific, his jackpot win was all of R28,219,392.25.
‘I always believed’
“All I knew was that it was over R250 000. I did not know it was the whole jackpot until I later realised I was a multimillionaire,” enthused the big winner in 19 October 2022’s Lotto Plus 1 draw.
“As a businessman, although I have always had money in different amounts, I also always believed that I would win the Lotto someday.”
Manual selection over auto pick
The Witbank resident said that he frequently played the same numbers instead of opting for the quick pick selection.
Many other mense from Mzansi attempt to feature among the top South African Lotto results with a similar approach.
They base their choice of numbers on anniversaries, birthdays and other milestones in their lives and those of others close to them.
For example, 4 could represent the month in the year and 9 the day in the month for someone who was born on the 4th of September. Anniversary-wise, an elderly couple might pick 19 and 45 to represent when they got married – 1945.
To stay or go
The businessman also said he was not going to quit his work on the back of his newfound wealth.
“My life will continue as normal, I will not stop working,” he added.
This, too, is a popular approach for South Africans who prefer to keep earning a living, even after they have come into a big sum of money.
Take, for instance, the Cape Town man who won over R230 million in the SA Powerball in 2019. He preferred to stick with his employment at the time.
“I will keep my job and carry on like normal. We are not going to live for the world to see that we are rich,” he said back then.
In October 2020, though, a man from the Free State chose to be done with his job after pocketing R121 million in the Powerball.
In October 2020, a Free State man opted to retire early after winning R121 million in the SA Powerball. The sum was enough for him to decide to stop work. For others, this might not be the case.
“I do not intend to continue working, I have worked hard enough and I am grateful to be granted an opportunity to retire earlier than I was expecting, without worrying about finances,” he stated.
For a final example of people who opt to remain employed after winning a big lottery sum, there’s the man from the Western Cape who stayed with his job after landing a R13 million prize.
“I don’t plan on leaving my job as I earn a very good salary. However, the winnings will make a difference in our lives,” he concluded.
