Durban - Four people in South Africa may forfeit more than R39 million if they don’t come forward to claim their lottery winnings, said Ithuba the licensed operator of the National Lottery.
Through either losing their ticket, not realising they won or some other factors four people have yet to collect on life changing amounts of money - but they still have time to come forward to claim their winnings, the service provider added.
The biggest win yet to be claimed is for a sum of R21 747 237.30 from 30 June draw for a Powerball Plus ticket bought in Gauteng.
The second biggest unclaimed win was from draw date 3 October for Powerball also in Gauteng for the sum of R13 019 619.60.
Followed by Powerball Plus R3 450 164.40 and Powerball Plus R1 292 638.80 in Gauteng, draw dates 21 July and 29 September respectively.
Gauteng region appears to be the most frequent on the list for not claiming prizes this year alone.
National Lottery Head of Marketing, Khensani Mabuza says: "If you bought a ticket, make sure you check to see if you are a winner. We have provided various ways of making it easy for our players to check if they are winners these include our website www.nationallottery.co.za , Player Hotline 0800 484 822 (toll free – calls from landline only) and we have ticket checker machines at select retail stores.”
“You have 365 days to claim your ticket,” explains Mabuza. “In order to claim you will need your ID book/card, winning ticket, bank statement and proof of residence. You can also check from your retailer where you bought your ticket. We advise our players to keep playing, and of course, to always check the ticket even if you're almost certain you haven't won!” concludes Mabuza.