Questions raised over winning Powerball numbers

Sometimes hitting the jackpot is as easy as one, two, three...

On Tuesday evening, the winning numbers of the Ithuba National Lottery jackpot had South Africans raising their eyebrows after an odd sequence of 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 as the bonus number was drawn.

Whats more, the lottery announced last night South Africa had 20 new multi-millionaires as a result of the draw.

“Congratulations to tonight’s 20 winners of the PowerBall draw. These numbers may be unexpected but we see many players opt to play these sequences. Could you be one of these winners? Check your tickets now!” the PhandaPushaPlay Twitter page tweeted.

Twitter was not sharing in the good news and questioned the odds of the weird winning sequence, accusing the Lottery of cheating.

“In order to put this to rest, all those 20 winners must be shown on TV, if not, we demand a Zondo Commission. #Lotto #Powerball”

“Why would 79 people pick 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and NOT pick 10 as a Powerball? It’s confusing.#LOTTO,” @Blink Of An Eye tweeted.

“Lotto exposing themselves that they are a scam ... What do you use the 30min after-sales cutoff before the draw for? Reduce the time to 5 min. We want to see something #LOTTO,” Mr Tee said on Twitter.

Rob Hutchinson, managing director of DearSA, said something was fishy.

“There is no way 20 people played those numbers.

“I don’t want to speculate, but it is odd. It is almost impossible and highly improbable,” he said.

“There should also be an invetigation into who the winners are,” Hutchinson suggested.

He added that the 30-minute gap between the draw and announcement should also be looked into.

Ralph Mathekga, a political analyst, said it looks like the winning numbers were rigged.

“It is indeed a very strange sequence of numbers and certainly the oddest combination,” he said.

Mathekga said the numbers are selected using an algorithm system.

“However, lotteries have never been transparent about their systems,” Mathegka added.

In January 2000, BBC reported former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe hit the jackpot in a lottery organised by a partly state-owned bank.

Florida Glen pensioner Ron Ferraris, who has been playing the Lotto for the past 20 years, said it is not the only strange thing going on with the Lotto.

“I want someone to explain to me why they added three more balls to the 49 sets of balls in August 2017?” he said.

The national gambling board said it does not regulate the lotto.