Cape Times

Diabetic pensioner flying high after R57m Lotto jackpot bonanza

- STAFF WRITER

HER lifelong dream of boarding an airplane will become reality after winning the R56 999 176 Lotto jackpot.

“I have always daydreamed about getting on a plane to Cape Town, so much so that I used to jokingly tell my children that if I win the Lotto, I will get on a flying machine so I know what it feels like,” said the overjoyed Limpopo pensioner.

As a diabetic patient, the 63-yearold said she could now access the best health-care facilities and planned to buy a family car so she didn’t have to worry about commuting to the doctor.

The new multi-millionair­e said that she would use her money to fix her house as the roof was caving in, and that she also intended to build each of her children a house.

“I come from a mountainou­s village in Limpopo and the roads are bad. I will use some of the money to build a road in the community,” she said.

The winner said that since she started playing the lottery, she had never had a method to choosing her numbers. She had chosen her winning numbers randomly, as she usually did.

She said that she regarded her luck as a blessing from the heavens, considerin­g that she has been playing for almost six years, but the most amount of money she has ever won was R50.

Ithuba said the woman was accompanie­d to its offices by her husband, children and a grandchild.

Her eldest daughter explained how she helped her mother play Lotto on Wednesdays and Saturdays and Powerball on Tuesdays and Fridays.

“Once my mother has selected her numbers, I go to the shop and play on her behalf.

“In the evenings I stay up with her to watch the draw show, and tell her the numbers, as her eyesight is deteriorat­ing.

“When I realised that all her numbers were drawn on Wednesday, I was too excited to sleep. We stayed up the whole night dancing and singing,” she said.

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