Never mind the make and model of car a Gauteng man has been driving since March, unbeknown to him it was worth more than R20 million.
For tucked into a pocket in the driver door panel for the past five months was a R20m LOTTO Jackpot ticket with the six correct numbers for the draw that took place on 28 March 2009.
Now the man who is in his 50s and who has chosen to remain anonymous has come forward to claim the R20 million LOTTO Jackpot prize.
“We are happy that the winner has come forward to claim his multi-million rand fortune after many calls in the media for him to come forward to claim his money,” said Thembi Tulwana, National Lottery operator Gidani spokesperson.
Tulwana said the man had left his ticket in his car’s door panel since March this year “and would appear to have forgotten all about it”.
When asked what made him check his ticket he said: “I went to pick up my children from school and I happened to be early. That’s when I decided to check my tickets that were in my car’s door panel.
“The retailer checked more than 50 of my tickets and I was winning between R30 and R100 in small prizes until the last ticket read ‘not authorized to pay’.
“I decided to take this ticket to Gidani’s offices in Midrand and when I got there I was told that I was R20 million richer,” said the winner who works as a technician.
The instant multi-millionaire spent only R40 on his winning ticket and chose his numbers randomly. Before claiming his money he had not told anybody that he could be the R20 million Jackpot winner.
“When I got the message from the retailer that read ‘not authorized to pay’ I asked for a print out of the numbers and went to sit in my car to check my numbers.
“I went through them about 10 times and was almost late in picking up my children.
“I decided not to tell anybody including my family because I wanted to make sure first by getting confirmation from Gidani,” said the winner.
He has not planned any celebrations as yet because he said that he wants the fact that he is a winner to settle first.
“The first thing that I’m going to do is to settle all my debts after which I’ll be renovating our house and start planning towards my children’s future,” concluded the winner.
Tulwana would like to remind players to always check their tickets soon after purchase.
“We are glad that our new LOTTO multi-millionaire came forward to claim his money even it’s after five months. It is however a pity that a KZN winner forfeited a whopping R103 589 yesterday when the winning ticket expired,” concluded Tulwana
[via NationalLottery]
No related posts.
Tags: 20 million, 28 March 2009