{"id":17416,"date":"2026-01-31T20:02:43","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T23:02:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=17416"},"modified":"2026-04-19T09:22:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T12:22:55","slug":"south-africas-second-largest-powerball-jackpot-winner-claims-r178m-prize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/south-africas-second-largest-powerball-jackpot-winner-claims-r178m-prize","title":{"rendered":"South Africa\u2019s second-largest Powerball jackpot winner claims R178m prize"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The winning ticket was purchased via the FNB banking app using the Quick Pick selection method, with a wager of R15 (\u20ac0.79).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>South Africa.- South Africa\u2019s National Lottery operator <strong>Ithuba<\/strong> has confirmed that the winner of the second-largest National Lottery Powerball jackpot in the country\u2019s history has come forward to claim the <strong>R178m<\/strong> (\u20ac9.35m) prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the company, the jackpot was won by a young couple still in the early stages of building their careers and future together. The winning ticket was purchased via the FNB banking app using the Quick Pick selection method, with <strong>a wager of R15<\/strong> (\u20ac0.79).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the couple, the focus had long been on working hard, meeting basic needs and, one day, owning a fully paid-off home. However, the winner described years of quiet anxiety about whether he and his wife would ever achieve the life they envisioned. He said: \u201cI was anxious about whether my wife and I would ever accomplish the life we dream of. Our dream life was by no means that of multi-millionaires.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like many young South Africans, overseas travel had felt like an unrealistic aspiration. That perspective has now shifted dramatically. One of the first plans the couple intends to fulfil is travelling abroad and experiencing the world together. The winner said: \u201cThat always felt like a wild fairy tale to me. We were simply working hard to cover the basics and one day own a paid-off home. This win has taken a lifetime of anxiety off our shoulders. Now all this and more is possible, and we can live our lives with far more confidence about the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ithuba CEO <strong>Charmaine Mabuza s<\/strong>aid the payout marks a major national milestone, as it ranks second among the largest jackpots ever recorded by the National Lottery. She added that the win reflects Ithuba\u2019s broader vision for the lottery. Mabuza noted: \u201cWhen we set out to reinvigorate the National Lottery, our vision was to restore excitement, credibility and scale, while creating truly life-changing, high-impact moments for everyday South Africans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As part of its standard support framework, Ithuba provided the couple with<strong> counselling<\/strong> and access to independent financial advisory services. The operator has repeatedly emphasised the importance of safeguarding winners\u2019 wellbeing and long-term stability following major jackpot claims.<\/p>\n\n\n<div id=\"see-also-container\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label\">See also:<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"related-article\">\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"related-article__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2025\/09\/lotto-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"related-article__text\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label-strong\">See also:<\/span> <a href='https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/ithuba-confirms-second-biggest-powerball-prize-win'>Ithuba confirms second-biggest Powerball prize win<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The winning ticket was purchased via the FNB banking app using the Quick Pick selection method, with a wager of R15 (\u20ac0.79).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2395,"featured_media":17212,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Ithuba, South Africa's National Lottery operator, has confirmed a R178m (\u20ac9.35m) Powerball jackpot winner, marking the second-largest payout in the country's history. The winning ticket was purchased via the FNB banking app, and Ithuba provided the couple with counselling and financial advisory services, underscoring its commitment to winner welfare and the lottery's vision of creating life-changing moments.","focusai_entities":"Ithuba, FNB, Charmaine Mabuza","focusai_location":"South Africa","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.7), compliance_legal (0.7), operator_casino (0.8), marketing_crm (0.8), payments_fraud_aml (0.7), investor_analyst (0.8), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Ithuba GGR Impact?","query":"How does this record payout impact Ithuba's Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) and Net Gaming Revenue (NGR) for the current fiscal period, considering the associated marketing uplift?"},{"label":"Regulatory Compliance Protocols?","query":"What specific responsible gambling and financial advisory protocols did Ithuba activate for this high-value winner, and how do these align with South African regulatory compliance frameworks?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60022,60011],"tags":[74],"class_list":["post-17416","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\/17416","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=17416"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17453,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17416\/revisions\/17453"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17212"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}