The Biggest Lotto Jackpot Winners in South Africa

Hundreds of Lotto jackpots have been won since the game began, and the top 10 Lotto winners have taken home more than R650 million between them. Find out more about the biggest Lotto and Lotto Plus winners ever seen, including the record R110 million jackpot won in 2018. Most winners in South Africa remain anonymous, but certain details about them are disclosed and you can read their stories here.

1. R110 million - Saturday 27 January 2018

The Lotto jackpot rolled over 21 times before a guaranteed record jackpot of R110 million was put up in the draw on 27 January 2018. As luck would have it, there was not one but four winners on the night, each of them taking home a R27.5 million share of the jackpot.

The locations in which the winning tickets were bought were revealed soon after the draw. Two of the winning tickets were bought in the Western Cape, one in KwaZulu-Natal, and one was purchased through FNB online banking. Despite encouragement from the National Lottery, it took one of the winners nearly a full year to claim his share of the prize. He remained anonymous but was described as a 58-year-old from Cape Town.

2. R79,874,758 – Saturday 4 May 2019

A woman from the Ottery suburb of Cape Town purchased a R30 Quick Pick ticket and ended up winning the second-biggest prize ever seen in Lotto, a sum worth over R79 million. After checking her ticket at a store, the winner was told she needed to go to the National Lottery's offices to claim the prize, but at that point she didn’t know how much she had won. It was only when she arrived at the offices that she found out that it was the jackpot.

The winner said she intended to buy a new house with a big yard so her adopted grandson had space to play. She also put R2 million aside for an attendant at her local petrol station. “I have been going to the same petrol station for years, and there has always been this young man who is polite and very helpful,” she said. “I have always wished to help make his life better in any way, and I now have an opportunity to do so.”

3. R61,633,381 – Saturday 27 July 2019

This jackpot winner was especially lucky, as it was his second big win in the space of a few years. After previously winning a Lotto prize worth R75,000, the man from Mitchell Plains in the Western Cape hit the big time with a R61 million jackpot, after buying a R20 Quick Pick.

The winner said that after his earlier win he built a four-roomed house for his family to move into, and after the jackpot win he planned to buy an even bigger home. “This money will change our family’s life forever,” he said. “I can now afford to buy a much bigger house where each of my children can have their own bedroom.”

4. R60,302,027 – Wednesday 9 October 2019

This winner decided to remain anonymous, so little is known about them except that they won the jackpot after purchasing a R100 Quick Pick somewhere in Guateng.

5. R60,000,000 – Saturday 14 December 2019

The National Lottery offered a guaranteed R60 million jackpot just a couple of months after the previous R60 million Lotto prize was won in Guateng. The winner of this jackpot also decided to remain completely anonymous, so details about them were withheld.

6. R58,672,134 – Saturday 12 May 2018

A 56-year-old-woman from Cape Town said she was grateful for the early retirement that her R58 million Lotto jackpot enabled. The anonymous winner said that she was a regular PowerBall player but bought a ticket for Lotto after seeing how big the jackpot was.

“I started daydreaming about how this could change my life and make it even better,” the winner said. “I insisted to my husband that we stop at a retail store where I could play the Lotto.” Upon checking the ticket at a store, the winner was instructed to contact the National Lottery head office, but it wasn’t until her son checked the ticket that it hit her that she had won the jackpot. “My body just went numb, I was in total disbelief. All I could do was drink my gin!”

7. R58,390,419 – Saturday 14 March 2020

A businessman from KwaZulu-Natal won R58 million just a few weeks before the coronavirus pandemic forced the National Lottery to suspend retail ticket sales and prize claims. The winner claimed the prize just days after spending R300 on Lotto Quick Picks through the FNB banking app and he said that it was normal for him to spend up to R400 on tickets at a time.

The winner also said that he had only told his wife about the win and didn’t plan on changing his lifestyle too much. He told officials at the National Lottery that he would invest some of the prize money and buy a house.

8. R58,358,384 – Wednesday 24 April 2013

This jackpot was the highest in Lotto history at the time and came about after a guaranteed R40 million prize was offered a month earlier. The jackpot was not won in that draw and rolled over seven times before it was won by two ticket holders on 24 April. The winning tickets were bought in the Eastern Cape and North West provinces and were each worth R29 million to their owners.

9. R56,999,176 – Wednesday 24 October 2018

A pensioner from Guateng won a jackpot worth just a few rand short of R57 million and said that she was looked forward to fulfilling a lifelong ambition to board a plane. The winner, who remained anonymous, told officials that she had played Lotto for six years but had previously never won more than R50. She claimed the prize at the National Lottery’s offices with her family, who helped her buy her tickets and check the winning numbers.

“When I realised that all her numbers were drawn on Wednesday, I was too excited to sleep,” the winner’s daughter said. “We stayed up the whole night dancing and singing.”

10. R53,294,212 – Saturday 28 November 2020

The jackpot rolled over for more than two months to set up an eagerly-awaited draw with more than R53 million up for grabs. Only one ticket matched all the numbers, netting the lucky winner one of Lotto’s biggest-ever prizes. It was revealed that the ticket was purchased on the FNB app and that the winner had picked their own numbers. They only spent R40 on entering the game, giving them an incredible return on their investment.

1. R58,284,275 – Saturday 24 November 2018

Two ticket holders shared the biggest ever Lotto Plus jackpot and each took home a prize worth over R29 million. One of the winners was revealed to be a grandfather from Pretoria who played Lotto and PowerBall regularly and spent R50 on his lucky Quick Pick ticket.

He told lottery officials that he worked for non-profit organisations that cared for the elderly and children with disabilities, and that he would use some of his winnings to help them. “We have not had enough money to accommodate them,” he said. “This has been breaking my heart and giving me sleepless nights. I will use some of my winnings to improve this situation.”

2. R39,535,256 – Saturday 22 April 2017

A father-of-five from rural Sekhukhune in Limpopo spent R7.50 on a ticket and won what was at the time the biggest Lotto Plus 1 jackpot ever offered. The winner was a regular Lotto player but said that prior to his jackpot win he had only ever matched three or four numbers.

“I am happy to have finally won the big prize,” he said. “I have five children. Only one has a tertiary qualification and I want to see all of them educated. I am happy that I will be able to give them an education.” He went on to say that he would also use some of the money to renovate his house and buy a tractor for his farm.

3. R32,250,332 – Saturday 16 January 2021

A 50-year-old from Turffontein, south of Johannesburg, set his sights on finally buying his own home after landing a multimillion-Rand jackpot. He spent R80 on his Lotto ticket, purchasing a Quick Pick selection at Turden Trading, at the Turf Club Road, and came forward less than two weeks later to claim his winnings.

It was revealed that he had been playing for years without much success, but always had faith that he would land a big win one day. Having previously lived in his mother’s flat, he was looking forward to buying a new place for them both. He also planned to pay for his daughter’s education, buy a car and investing some of the money.

4. R27,789,307 – Wednesday 25 October 2017

A family from KwaZulu-Natal pooled their money to buy Lotto tickets and their co-operation paid off when they hit a R27 million jackpot. The National Lottery only pays prizes out to a single claimant, so one of the family members was given the duty of claiming the jackpot. “We are a big and very close-knit family”, he said. “It is only natural that we are all winners and we all share the jackpot.”

When asked what he would do with his share of the money, the winner said he would pay off his debt but would continue to work and complete his postgraduate education. His biggest joy, he said, was that his children would be able to attend good schools and go into tertiary education.

5. R26,550,301 – Wednesday 1 March 2017

It was a text message that alerted the winner of this R26 million jackpot that she held the lucky ticket. The housewife from the Free State played a manual bet worth R15 and ended up picking all six winning numbers to land the huge prize.

The winner said: “I found out about the winning ticket while standing in my kitchen and checking the results from a text message. I just started screaming, shaking, and spinning around. I was unbelievably excited.” She went on to say that she planned to go travelling with her husband but would invest most of the money to prepare for retirement.

1. R35,764,016 – Saturday 14 July 2018

It took an incredible 34 consecutive rollovers for the Lotto Plus 2 jackpot to reach this record amount on 14 July 2018, when it was finally taken by one ticket holder in the Eastern Cape. The winning entry was a R100 Quick Pick purchased at a Shoprite store in Lusikisiki.

2. R30,000,000 – Saturday 30 November 2019

The National Lottery offered guaranteed jackpots in all three Lotto draws on this date – including a R30 million Lotto Plus 2 jackpot – as part of a ‘Black Friday’ promotion. One ticket holder ended up taking home the entire Plus 2 jackpot and they decided to remain anonymous, so no further details about them are known.

3. R19,424,193 – Wednesday 13 May 2020

The lucky winner of this R19 million jackpot managed to get their ticket in advance just before retail sales were suspended due to the coronavirus lockdown. Sales continued online but stores were instructed to take tickets off sale at the end of April 2020, as they were not judged to be an essential service.

Perhaps it was the threat of lockdown that persuaded the winner to buy their tickets ahead of time, as they spent R1,000 on 10 weeks’ worth of Quick Picks while sales were still ongoing in stores. The winning ticket was revealed to have been bought at the Rietfontein Pavillion Centre in Pretoria, Gauteng.