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Winner too scared to claim R26m
22/11/2006 23:06 - (SA)
Amelia Oosthuizen, Beeld
Johannesburg - For days, he couldn't sleep a wink or eat anything, while he sweated and shook with the knowledge of his giant win on the Lotto.
Finally, the 40-year-old driver from KwaZulu-Natal scraped together enough courage to claim the R26 892 123 prize he had won in the national lottery.
"I couldn't sleep or eat. I was scared, mixed up, confused. I did not know what to do,² said the winner of the fourth largest jackpot, according to a statement by Uthingo, who run the Lotto.
The man bought a R28 Lotto ticket on Saturday, November 11, on his way home from a church function.
Began to shiver and sweat
On the Monday, while at a friend's house he looked at a newspaper and realised that four of the numbers he could remember had come up in the winning combination (1, 2, 4, 13 15, 33).
He had to wait to get home to get his ticket to confirm the remaining numbers.
Then he checked; he could not believe he had all six numbers right.
"I began to shiver and sweat. I was afraid, confused and shocked. I did not know what to do.
"For three days, I did not eat or sleep. I went to work every day, but I couldn't concentrate.
"I tried to act as normally as possible, but my wife kept asking me what was wrong. I did not tell her that I had become a multimillionaire overnight."
It was only when he saw in the media that Uthingo was calling on the winner to claim his prize, that he scraped together the courage to tell his wife.
The man, who lives in a two-roomed house in an informal settlement, must still decide if he is going to resign from the job he's had for 14 years.
Top-class education for his children
He will use some of the money to buy a new house and a car, and to pay off all his debts.
The rest will be invested, although he may decide to start a business.
But, the most-important thing is that he can now give his children the best possible education.
- Beeld
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