PowerBall Winners

An anonymous man from Cape Town landed the biggest ever PowerBall jackpot and came forward to claim it just a week later. Not much information was released about the lucky ticket holder, except that he was a man in his fifties who worked a blue collar job. It was also revealed that he picked his own numbers and spent R22.50 on tickets from an OK Mini Mart in the Tygerdal area of Cape Town.

In a short statement to the media, the winner confirmed that he wanted to remain anonymous and that the money would be used for his children's education first and foremost. He also said he had no plans to quit his job.

After three months of anticipation, the jackpot grew into the second-largest in history before finally being claimed by a young professional couple from Gauteng. Their life-changing win came from a modest R15 Quick Pick ticket purchased through the FNB banking app.

Describing the win as the end of "a lifetime of anxiety," the couple looked ahead to a debt-free future when claiming the prize. To kick off their new chapter, they set their sights on an international trip to celebrate their incredible luck.

A player from Ballito on the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal won this huge jackpot, becoming the second-biggest winner in South African PowerBall history. It was revealed that they had spent R150 on their Quick Pick ticket.

The jackpot had rolled over for 24 consecutive draws since 16 November, and had jumped up by more than R10 million from the previous draw.

A Western Cape man secured one of the largest Powerball jackpots in history after ditching his usual Quick Pick strategy for a more personal approach. Playing via the Nedbank app, he chose numbers based on the birth dates of family members—a decision that led to a life-changing phone call from the bank confirming his massive win.

For the winner, the windfall was about more than just wealth; it was about legacy and a long-awaited reward. He shared that the money ensures a brighter future for his children and will finally allow him to fulfil a bucket-list dream: traveling overseas to see Manchester United play live.

A woman from the North West of South Africa became the country’s biggest-ever online winner when she matched all the numbers to bring an end to a run of rollovers lasting almost three months. She played using the ABSA banking app and picked her regular numbers, spending just R15 on her ticket.

The win could barely have come at a better time as she had found herself unemployed in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. She said she would donate some of her winnings to charity and set up an education trust for her children. She also planned to use some of the money to make her dreams come true, including a new home and a lot of travelling.

The winner of the second-biggest jackpot in PowerBall history was a 34-year-old engineer from Secunda, Mpumalanga, who bought his lucky ticket for R20 from Evander Dienstasie on 1 Rotter Dam Road, Evander. He had been playing the lottery for years before his big win, and collected his nine-figure prize four days after the draw.

He kept his ticket in his sock for safekeeping, explaining: “I kept it in my sock at night because I thought about what if thieves were to come in here. Not because they know anything… but take it. I kept on thinking that what if I was involved in a car accident. You know how people lose their wallets in accidents, so it was safer there.”

Following his win, he planned to invest the money and help family members. He said the PowerBall prize money would make his life much easier, adding: “It was not easy to make the call to claim the winnings. I needed to properly digest it and accept that my life has changed. Even growing up‚ I can’t say we struggled but it was a life of hustling. There was a time I spent a while looking for a job and I would never want anyone to experience that.”

A lucky feeling proved to be just right for a man who bought his PowerBall ticket while holidaying in the Mossel Bay region of Western Cape. His wife had recently had a dream in which ‘she saw gold particles being sprinkled all over her husband’ and he thought that was the day when fortune would smile on him so he purchased a R105 Quick Pick from a Spar in Groot Brakrivier.

The 50-year-old man, who worked in construction, added that he did not have lavish plans for the money and would definitely not be quitting his job. He said he would invest most of it so that his children and grandchildren would have bright futures.

A Guaranteed Jackpot of R135 million was set for this draw, following ten weeks of draws without a winner. A single ticket matched all the numbers, and the winner came forward just a few days later to claim prize.

It turned out to be a pensioner from Rosettenville, Johannesburg. Having spent 40 years working in the construction industry, he put his good fortune down to his faith in God and said he would even continue to play. He said: “I was so excited when I found that I won, I kept on screaming, 'I got it, I got it!'. I have decided I am going to buy a new house for my family. Winning this amount is going to change our lives in a very big way.”

The jackpot had rolled over for more than two months, building up to a gigantic R135 million, when a single player matched all the numbers on 28 April. It was revealed to be a ticket holder from KwaZulu-Natal, who had bought a Quick Pick online through FNB.

They were unable to come forward and claim their prize straight away, though, as the National Lottery’s offices were temporarily closed to comply with the government’s lockdown measures amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Three lucky winners split this huge jackpot, each receiving more than R44.7 million. All three tickets were sold through banking platforms, and National Lottery bosses hailed ‘an exceptional outcome that touched lives across the nation’s diverse spectrum’.

Two of the winners, both men, insisted that they would carry on working despite their newfound wealth. One of them added that he would give a lot to charity, including his church, while he would also renovate his house. The other winner was a woman who had played the same numbers for eight years before her big win.

A man from KwaZulu-Natal became the biggest PowerBall Plus winner - and the largest online winner - of all time when he landed this nine-figure payout. With restrictions on social contact during the Covid-19 pandemic, playing online proved to be particularly popular and the lucky winner could scarcely believe his luck as he was not a regular player. He said the win had ‘fast-forwarded their investment plans, to a point beyond imagination’.

This was the second-largest PowerBall Plus jackpot ever seen at the time, after rolling over for more than two and a half months. It could have gone on to break the R100 million barrier, but was stopped in its tracks when a single ticket holder matched all the numbers.

The winner came forward less than two weeks later to claim the prize, and opted to remain anonymous. This is very common in South Africa, but the winner also requested that no more information be shared about their story. All that was revealed was that the winner came from Limpopo, and had spent R45 on a Quick Pick selection.

This huge PowerBall Plus jackpot - the biggest ever seen on the game at the time - was created after almost three months of rollovers. Only a single player matched all the numbers – 3, 23, 25, 38 and 44, plus the PowerBall of 9. The winning ticket was bought at Checkers, Durbanville in Cape Town, Western Cape, but no more information was released about the identity of the lucky player.