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By Sihle Mlambo 
4h ago
Johannesburg – A nervously excited Johannesburg retiree was the first of 20 people to find the gold to claim their Powerball R5.6m victory at the offices of lottery operators Ithuba in Sandton on Wednesday.
In the weirdest Powerball lottery draw, Tuesday night’s winning Powerball numbers were 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and the Powerball number was also 10.
The never-before-seen sequence led to mass hysteria from members of the public who questioned the results and claimed that the winning giveaway was rigged.
But at the same time, the strange sequence created at least 20 new millionaires who will share R5.6m each of the original jackpot than was estimated at R113m.
The Ithuba Lottery says that the 20 jackpot winners selected their winning numbers manually and did not use quick pick.
Ithuba Lottery spokesperson Busisiwe Msizi said the first person to claim his jackpot was a married retiree from the West Rand in Johannesburg, who arrived early Wednesday morning with his son-in-law to claim his victory.
Two other people known to the lottery operator played through their FNB and ABSA banking apps.
“One person has already shown up at the Sandton office to claim their prize. He is a married retiree with three adult children.
“What I found interesting was that they told us they have been playing these same numbers for six years.
“A lot of people play these simple basic combinations and it just so happened that 20 people selected these numbers manually, with no quick selection, and last night it was their lucky turn,” Msizi said.
Speaking of the retiree, Msizi said he was excited but nervous when he showed up at the lottery operator’s Sandton offices this morning.
“He came with his son-in-law, he was very nervous. He was as excited as he was nervous. He just bet an R15 ticket on Westgate to get his win, ”he said.
“All of our winners of more than 50,000 rand are offered trauma counseling because it is a traumatic experience. One minute you have no money and the next minute you have R5m.
“We also provide winners with financial advice and they choose the institutions they want to work with,” he said.
Meanwhile, Msizi said the lottery was not rigged and said there was no human interaction with the machine.
He said that the Ithuba Lottery, like other lottery operators in the world, had moved away from ball machines and was now conducting digital draws that used the random number generator.
He said back-up systems were in place to ensure the integrity of the operation and the results were independently audited.
MESS
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