The missing winner of the R23 million Lotto has come finally forward and claimed his prize, the national lottery operator ITHUBA said on Wednesday.
Last week, ITHUBA announced that the lottery ticket that won over R23.774 million on 19 September 2018 had not been claimed and would expire soon. The ticket was purchased for R30 at the Shell garage in Amberfield, Centurion.
Had the winner not come forward, he would have forfeited all his winnings on 19 September 2019.
In a statement, ITHUBA said the winner reported to their Sandton office in the company of his wife on Wednesday.
The man told ITHUBA he suspected that he could be a winner when he saw the details of the winning ticket in the media and that it was bought at the spot where he usually buys his lottery tickets.
Khensani Mabuza, corporate relations executive at ITHUBA, said the winner then went through all the tickets he had to see if he could find one that matched the specified date, and when he found it he immediately drove to the lottery operator's office.
"We have verified the ticket and we can confirm that we have found the winner of the R23.774 million Lotto jackpot," Mabuza said, further urging players to safeguard their tickets."
"We encourage players to write their names and ID numbers at the back of each ticket they purchase, and to regularly check their tickets after each draw to avoid missing out on winnings."
- African News Agency (ANA)
