Woman unemployed for 7 years finally has ‘financial freedom’ after jackpot lottery win
After being unemployed for seven years, a woman in South Africa finally has “financial freedom” after a huge lottery win.
The woman from Limpopo got by selling beauty products and working as a hairdresser, TimesLive, a South African outlet, reported Wednesday, Feb. 22.
She bought her routine weekly lottery ticket for the Lotto jackpot through her bank app, then got a text message informing her she’d won, IOL reported, citing lottery officials. She went to her bank to verify the information.
The woman won 22 million South African rand or about $1.2 million from the jackpot prize drawing Feb. 11, The South African reported, citing lottery officials.
“I play the national lottery games every week, and this is the first time I have won such a big amount,” the woman, who chose to remain anonymous, told lottery officials, according to TimesLIve. “I am so happy and so relieved. I have always wanted financial freedom and winning this jackpot has given that to me.”
Now a multimillionaire, the woman plans to build a house for her mother, invest in her children’s education and continue her studies in electrical engineering, IOL reported.
“In terms of giving back to my community, I would like to help and empower young underprivileged girls,” she told lottery officials, according to The South African.
The average monthly salary in South Africa was about 24,800 rand – or about $1,360 – in September, Business Tech reported in December.
The Lotto game is part of South Africa’s National Lottery run by Ithuba Holdings, per the website. Players buy a ticket for the Lotto drawing and can either pick six numbers or have six numbers randomly assigned to them. A random drawing selects the winner.
Limpopo is a northern province bordering Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The province is about 255 miles north of Johannesburg.
This story was originally published February 22, 2023 at 3:09 PM with the headline "Woman unemployed for 7 years finally has ‘financial freedom’ after jackpot lottery win."
