Winner of R107m Powerball jackpot found, has been playing same numbers for months

The R107m PowerBall jackpot winner from KwaZulu-Natal has come forward to claim her life-changing prize, lottery operator Ithuba announced on Friday. 

“The elated winner, who has requested to remain anonymous, bought her ticket via the FNB banking platform on September 13. She received a call on Monday informing her to go to the Ithuba office to claim her prize as she had won,” Ithuba said in a statement.

“I texted my partner telling him that 'I got the call'. At that point, I did not know how much I had won but I knew that all my numbers matched the winning numbers but remained unsure as to whether the numbers were from the same draw,” said the excited winner. 

The winner said she had always used the same numbers, which are birthdays and ages of people.

“However, four months ago I decided to narrow my focus and play only PowerBall. But I never believed I could ever win a prize this big,” she said. 

The winner was relaxing at home with her partner and children on Saturday, and when she checked the numbers, she instantly recognised that the first three matched hers, and “then I realised that in fact all the winning numbers matched mine”.

Asked what she planned to do with the money, she said quality education for her children will take centre stage which is something she could not have afforded without the win.

She will also donate money towards the elderly and animals.

TimesLIVE