Powerball Jackpot: R116m for the taking this week

The Powerball drawing on Tuesday evening night did not have a grand prize winner for the estimated R105 million jackpot. The jackpot has now rolled over to a whopping R116 million.

Two people, however, were lucky enough to walk away with R295,212.70 each, while 29 people won R12,749.20 each. The next draw is on Friday, 9 July.

Now that you know what’s up for grabs, how would you go about spending all that money? Let’s daydream a bit…

Powerball jackpot: What to buy

So, what to do with all that moola should you be lucky enough to walk away with the R116m Powerball jackpot?

It’s advised to choose a sensible course of action, such as hiring a professional to handle your finances, paying off your debt, saving for retirement and so on. But you could, for example, follow in this guy’s footsteps and spend R116 million on buying a gold cast of Mandela’s hands.

And while you won’t be able to afford the most expensive homes in Clifton or Fresnaye – which sell for about R150 million – you could set down roots in Mouille Point, Camps Bay or Zimbali Coastal Resort.

This beautiful four-bedroom, four-bathroom house in Zimbali, Ballito, sold for R34.9 million in 2019.

Even if you spend upwards of R50 million for a home, you’d still have millions left to play with. Regardless of what you choose to do, your life will undoubtedly change. Whether it changes for better or worse is up to you.

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 R14m or more. To join the 2,200 multimillionaires, you’ll need to somehow accumulate a wealth of R140 million or more.

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.

Previous Powerball winners

The last massive jackpot of R112 million was nabbed by two lucky players back in May, making it the biggest jackpot won in 2021. Each player walked away with a whopping R56 million after playing 3, 9, 17, 25, 39 and the Power Ball of 13.

Ithuba CEO Charmaine Mabuza at the time called on players to check their tickets as the winners – from Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal and Thornton in Cape Town – didn’t come forward immediately after the draw.

Then in June, a father of three from Orange Farm in Gauteng walked away with a Powerball jackpot of R11 million after spending only R15 on a quick-pick ticket.