Powerball jackpot: R125 million up for grabs tonight

The December is still three weeks away, but Christmas might come earlier for one lucky South African if they happen to win tonight’s Powerball Jackpot.

The jackpot has already rolled over no less than 16 times, resulting in a massive buildup of funds.

Powerball Jackpot 12 November

R125 million of for grabs

Thanks to previous rollovers, the jackpot currently stands at a whopping R125 million – made up of R84 million for Powerball and R41 million for Powerball Plus.

Charmaine Mabuza, Ithuba’s CEO, said it would a shame if “someone is left behind”.

“I’m sure no one wants to get left behind while many players are buying tickets and standing a chance to win R125 Million in total estimated jackpots.”

Get your Powerball ticket

Lottery outlets close at 8.30pm on the day of a draw, which happens at 9pm. The terms and conditions may differ from other service outlets. Visit www.nationallottery.co.za for more information. 

You can find the historical winning numbers for PowerBall and Lotto draws here.

PowerBall entries cost R5 per board including value-added tax (VAT). PowerBall Plus costs an additional R2.50 per board. You can also play PowerBall on selected banking apps (terms and conditions apply).

Free counselling

It’s quite a shock becoming a millionaire overnight. In most cases, lottery winners squander their newfound fortune in record time, while many others are duped into dubious investment schemes or fall victim to the family and friends’ trap.

Ithuba’s winner services department, therefore, offers free financial advice and trauma counselling to winners of R50,000 and up. The aim is to assist the winner “digest the news and enjoy every step of this life-changing experience”.

Trauma counselling will be followed by extensive financial advice to assist the winner with their financial planning.

Chances of winning the jackpot

Unfortunately, the odds of winning are not all that high; it’s stacked against you 1 to 18. That means that if you want a guaranteed chance of winning the jackpot, you’ll need to spend more than R200,000,000 on R5 tickets.

In other words, for every R1 you spend on Lotto and Powerball, you have a chance to get 50c back. That said, if you’re lucky enough to be the sole winner of the R116 million jackpot, you’ll join South Africa’s 43,600 high net-worth citizens in the big leagues.

As per the New World Wealth report compiled in 2018, they each have assets worth R14 million or more. To join the 2,200 multimillionaires, you’ll need to somehow accumulate a wealth of R140 million or more.

Compiled by Cheryl Kahla