{"id":16904,"date":"2026-01-26T06:05:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T09:05:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=16904"},"modified":"2026-04-19T09:39:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T12:39:11","slug":"ithuba-confirms-second-biggest-powerball-prize-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/ithuba-confirms-second-biggest-powerball-prize-win","title":{"rendered":"Ithuba confirms second-biggest Powerball prize win"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The ticket was purchased for R15 via the FNB banking app using the Quick Pick random selection option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

South African national lottery operator Ithuba<\/strong> has announced that its PowerBall draw on Tuesday, January 20, produced a winner of the second-largest jackpot in the game\u2019s history, worth about R178m<\/strong> (\u20ac9.43m).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The winning numbers were 2, 3, 16, 17 and 35<\/strong>, with PowerBall 5<\/strong>. The lucky player matched all five main numbers and the PowerBall to claim the jackpot prize. The ticket was purchased for R15 (\u20ac0.79) via the FNB banking app using the Quick Pick<\/strong> random selection option. As of January 24<\/strong>, the player had not yet come forward to claim the prize, although winners have 365 days to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The win is the second-largest recorded in PowerBall history under ITHUBA\u2019s operation, behind the roughly R232m<\/strong> (\u20ac12m) jackpot claimed by an anonymous Cape Town man<\/strong> in his fifties on February 19, 2019<\/strong>. The third-largest jackpot, worth R167m<\/strong> (\u20ac8.8m), was won in February 2022<\/strong> from a R150 Quick Pick ticket <\/strong>purchased in Ballito, KwaZulu-Natal<\/strong>, with the winner remaining anonymous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prizes are tax-free and deposited directly into the winner\u2019s bank account. Many previous winners have invested their winnings in family welfare, homes, education and charitable causes, with ITHUBA providing free professional guidance to help manage the transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Players can purchase national lottery tickets at retailers, online, via mobile apps or using USSD, provided they are 18 years old or older<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> National Lotteries Commission outlines six-step process for grant applicants<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The ticket was purchased for R15 via the FNB banking app using the Quick Pick random selection option.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2395,"featured_media":7911,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"South African national lottery operator Ithuba announced a R178m PowerBall jackpot winner, marking the second-largest prize in the game's history under its operation. The ticket was purchased via the FNB banking app, and the winner has yet to claim the tax-free prize, for which Ithuba offers professional guidance. This event highlights the scale of lottery payouts and the diverse distribution channels, including mobile banking platforms.","focusai_entities":"Ithuba, FNB, National Lotteries Commission","focusai_location":"South Africa, Cape Town, Ballito, KwaZulu-Natal","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.8), regulator (0.7), compliance_legal (0.7), operator_casino (0.7), product_ux (0.7), tech_data (0.7), marketing_crm (0.8), payments_fraud_aml (0.8), investor_analyst (0.8), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Digital Channel Impact","query":"What is the observed uplift in GGR and player acquisition attributable to the integration of lottery ticket sales within the FNB banking application, compared to traditional retail channels?"},{"label":"Winner Claim Protocol","query":"What specific governance frameworks and support mechanisms does Ithuba have in place to manage the 365-day prize claim period for high-value jackpots, particularly concerning unclaimed funds and winner anonymity?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60022,60011],"tags":[74],"class_list":["post-16904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance-news","category-south-africa","tag-lottery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2395"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16904"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16936,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16904\/revisions\/16936"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7911"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}