By Tendani Tsedu and Douglas Carew
Lotto addicts across South Africa are crying foul after Wednesday's draw in which the TV show's host called the winning numbers before the balls dropped in to the slot.
Independent Newspapers in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town were inundated with calls from irate viewers wanting to know how it was possible for host Nimrod Nkosi to call the numbers early if the draw was broadcast live.
A Kenilworth resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said if something was amiss the organisers of the lottery were abusing people's dreams. "The show should be run impeccably because so much is at stake," he said.
A man from Tokai, who contacted Weekend Argus to express his concerns, said: "Something went wrong."
Uthingo, the Lotto's administrators, said only viewers who watched the draw on e.tv through the Dstv channel 49 had experienced the problem.
Staff of the Saturday Star, sister paper of Weekend Argus, viewed tapes of the draw at Uthingo's offices on Friday. They were shown two draws - the one that was shown via satellite on Dstv and the terrestrial e.tv telecast.
In the Dstv broadcast, the presenter's voice was heard before the balls were shown while on the terrestrial broadcast the voice and picture were synchronised.
"During the live broadcast, the signals relayed via satellite were not synchronised. The audio was broadcast in normal time, but the visuals were delayed by approximately three seconds," said Dawid Muller, Uthingo's corporate service director.