Mom and brother got the good news first as Potch man bags R8.9m jackpot
Ithuba, the operator of the national lottery, announced that the winner has come forward to claim the prize.
He said he had kept his ticket in his wardrobe.
'I was very excited when I found out I had won. I've always held onto the hope that one day I would become a millionaire,' he said.
The man bagged a total of R8,952,821.60 in the lotto draw on Saturday with a ticket purchased at a store in Potchefstroom, North West, with an R80 wager. He manually selected his numbers.
The winner shared that he found out about his life-changing win when he checked the winning numbers online.
'The first people I shared the news with were my mother and brother, and now I plan on buying a house as soon as possible,' he said.
The employed winner enjoys playing soccer in his free time, and he's excited that his winnings will allow him to pursue his passions without financial constraints.
Ithuba CEO Charmaine Mabuza congratulated the winner.
'We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the lucky winner! We're excited to empower him with the financial knowledge and tools necessary to help him turn this windfall into a lasting legacy for himself and his loved ones,' said Mabuza.
Ithuba offers winners of R50,000 and more a complimentary counselling and financial advice.
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Mail & Guardian
6 hours ago
- Mail & Guardian
Flood damage: An act of God or governance failure?
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The damage was extensive, costs were astronomical and timelines for recovery, like so many things in this country, were uncertain. TSAM's insurer has now taken the matter to court, not against Toyota, but against eThekwini metropolitan municipality. The company said in court papers that the flooding and subsequent damages were exacerbated by the city's failure to maintain a key piece of public infrastructure: the Umlaas Canal. The canal was built decades ago to divert the uMlazi River around the industrial zone of Prospecton. According to court papers, the insurer contends that the canal, which is owned by Transnet but managed and maintained in conjunction with the department of transport and eThekwini municipality, had deteriorated to the point of failure. They argue that its structural integrity was so compromised that it could not handle the sheer volume of stormwater during the April floods. 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Until something big breaks and suddenly, it's not just about inconvenience anymore. It's about livelihoods. It's about public safety. It's about people losing their jobs, assets and sometimes even their lives. So when a flood rolls through Durban and knocks out one of the biggest vehicle assembly plants in the southern hemisphere, we have to ask, was it really just an 'act of God'? Or was it a long-ignored systems failure, the kind that we have come to expect and accept? One of my followers offered an informed perspective that deserves space in this conversation and brings some balance to the argument. According to him, and a report by Aecom (Toyota's engineers), eThekwini hasn't been idle. Since the 2017 floods, it has reportedly worked with Toyota to implement several mitigation measures: installing a new outfall at Clark Road, upgrading the Prospecton Road canal and developing an attenuation facility upstream. Toyota has also enhanced its internal stormwater systems, all with the aim of managing flood risks well beyond standard design thresholds. Aecom estimates the 2022 flood was a one-in-200-year event, significantly more severe than the historic 1987 flood. If that's accurate, then perhaps this wasn't purely a failure of infrastructure maintenance, but rather a climate event that overwhelmed even above-standard defences. The same reader raised another important point: litigation might do more harm than good. The Dutch report on damages in the Prospecton area put the figure at a staggering R75 billion. In his view, that kind of crisis demands collaboration and consolidated funding, not courtrooms and high legal costs. Litigation, he argues, divides the very stakeholders who should be working together. Can you hold a municipality accountable for systemic failure, without undermining the partnerships that are needed to prevent future ones? There have been numerous instances in South Africa where maintenance funds are unaccounted for, and the organisation responsible remains unaccountable. Perhaps that's why we jump to the conclusion that eThekwini has failed us. This court case raises a real question: can a municipality be held liable for damages when its failure to maintain public infrastructure leads to a private sector loss? And if the metro loses this case, what precedent will it set for other private businesses whose operations were affected? I believe this will not be an easy case to prove. Municipalities will almost always argue that they don't have the funds, the personnel or the resources to do everything that needs to be done. If you're a business, and especially if you're a business investing in fixed assets such as factories, you operate under the assumption that the state will maintain basic infrastructure. That's not a luxury. It's the bare minimum. It's part of the social contract that underpins why we pay rates and taxes. In a province that is prone to flooding, business and government should constantly be working together to prevent infrastructure failures. This is a case worth hearing. Because if we start drawing legal lines around what constitutes negligence when it comes to public infrastructure, maybe it will shift the conversation away from vague, hand-wringing frustration and into the realm of consequences. Here's the part that really gets to me when it comes to infrastructure failures caused by government negligence: the fact that so many people read about these kinds of things and barely flinch. It seems that the norm for South Africans is to accept what is. Not because they don't care, but because they've stopped expecting better. 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They leave behind a shrinking municipal budget, fewer resources and a growing hole in the very capacity that was meant to fix the problem in the first place. And on the flip side? The metros that are functioning, or at least doing a passable job, are now buckling under the pressure of inward migration. Your roads are more congested. Your schools are fuller. Your hospitals have longer queues. And your infrastructure, which might have been designed for a population of a million, is now trying to support 1.5 million or more. It's a vicious cycle. One that affects everyone, not just the people who made the move. So although it's easy to say 'vote with your feet', we need to ask what kind of long-term structural consequences that has for our cities, our budgets and our national cohesion. I would like to see more municipalities being challenged. I want legal precedents that remind us that governance comes with responsibility. That neglect has a cost. That service delivery isn't optional. Not just outrage on X. Not just another audit report. Real legal and financial accountability. But more than that, I want us as citizens, residents, ratepayers and business owners to start asking better questions. To demand better answers. And to stop accepting mediocrity as the default setting for how this country is run. Yes, things are hard, we are resilient and budgets are tight. But we need to stop accepting those excuses as explanations for why things never improve. What happened at Toyota in Durban wasn't just a flood. It was a failure. A systems failure. And perhaps a governance failure. It could serve as a reminder that we are not powerless. That accountability doesn't begin and end at the ballot box. That municipalities exist to serve us, not the other way around. And that if we don't start holding them to a higher standard, we will be repeating this cycle of damage, disappointment, and decay. So the next time a pipe bursts or a streetlight stays broken for six months, don't just shrug. Ask the hard questions. Demand the repair. File the complaint. Write the letter. And, above all, stay on top of it. Because if we don't hold our metros accountable, who will? Ask Ash examines South Africa's property, architecture and living spaces. Continue the conversation with her on email (


The South African
8 hours ago
- The South African
PowerBall draw jackpot at R84 million on Tuesday, 22 July
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The Herald
a day ago
- The Herald
Arena Holdings mourns celebrated and seasoned Sowetan executive editor Pearl Sebolao
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