Dutywa pensioner scoops record R50m Lotto jackpot

A DUTYWA father of four has been confirmed as the rightful winner of a gargantuan tax-free R50-million.

This is the biggest Lotto win ever in the Eastern Cape.

Yesterday, punters had formed a long queue at the SPAR store where the ticket was purchased, manager Bonginkosi Ntangasha said.

The 58-year-old pensioner sat having a smoke at his home village outside the small town while trawling through the Daily Dispatch’s November 10 edition.

His eye fixed on a report which said the owner of a Lotto ticket had not come forward to claim the prize. The golden ticket had been drawn on November 4.

The lucky winner said: “I heard people talking about this in town, but I did not pay any attention to it. Then I saw the article in the newspaper.”

Slowly the penny dropped. He had purchased a ticket at that SPAR as he often did. Then it struck him that it was still lying in a pocket in his jacket in the house.

“I finished my smoke, and went inside to check my ticket and compared it with the winning numbers on the paper. Then I saw that they matched.’’

Stunned and in disbelief he cried out to his family.

“I called my wife to come and see the ticket as well. She read and it was right.

“Then we called our first-born to come and see too.”

The man, who cannot be named, said he had taken an early package from his government job a few years ago.

Now that he had hit the big league, he planned to invest his winnings. “I am a careful spender,” he said. “I will try to keep my life simple and invest the money.

“This will make a big difference to us. My biggest dream has always been to have a happy family.

“I have always played the Lotto and I had hoped that one day I would win.”

He plans to keep the good news away from his younger children for a while and give them a good education.

“I won’t tell my younger kids yet because they are still busy with exams and this might distract them,” he said.

“I will not let the money change who I am, but now I can for sure pay my children’s school fees.

“It will be easy now to send them to school because we won’t worry about financial troubles.

“I also plan on building a house for my family.

“I am still going to think about donating some of the money to charity.”

National Lottery marketing head Khensani Mabuza said the winner had received emotional and financial counselling.

“We take winners through some counselling similar to trauma counselling because this will help them make decisions,” she said.

“We also help them with financial planning to help them realise that they do not have to spend the money immediately.

“We encourage them to invest and live off the interest to make the money last.”

Lottery psychologist Hlengiwe Zwane said the Dutywa winner had been given an hour’s debriefing, focusing on trauma counselling.

“The counselling includes helping them adjust and understand exposure to new information and change and dealing with the new financial status.

“You find that winners respond to the news of their winning in the same way they respond to trauma.

“They go through feelings of shock, denial, nightmares, lack of sleep, lack of appetite, anxiety, tearfulness, depression.

“By the time the counsellor sees them when they are here at Ithuba to process their winning claim they have gone through most emotions.”

The lottery has paid out the amount in full and it will not be taxed.

SPAR manager Ntangashe said yesterday there had been an overwhelming number of Lotto players since the news broke in the small town.

“We are very excited and happy that the winner of such a large amount is from our area and played at our store.

“This will make history and a legacy for our store as we believe that this is the biggest win in the province so far. “Everyone has been talking about this. “We have more customers now and as I speak to you the Lotto queue is long with people who want to be next in winning millions.”