Lotto in South Africa

Lotto in South Africa is huge! It makes people win big and have a lot of different games to gamble on. It is also a big contributor to society as a lot of the lottery revenue is used for good causes. At this page, we will guide you on what lottery games that are offered in South Africa and how to play them. Lotto is, in terms of the number of players, a huge thing in South Africa. Millions of people are playing the SA lotto every week and hope to win the big jackpots. Lotto is a well know thing to play in South Africa and there are weekly draws on national TV. Lotteries, in addition to the National Lottery, is being increasingly offered by online lotto sites in South Africa. In 2021, almost all betting sites are offering some kind of lotto products in SA.

Lotto SA

The South Africa National Lottery is fully operated by a company known as ITHUBA Holdings, to whom the operational license was awarded in 2015. The regulators of the lottery in the country are the National Lottery Commission of South Africa, which was set up by the South Africa government in the year 2000.

Lottery tickets in South Africa may be purchased only by eligible persons of at least age eighteen.

Lotto Results

When you play the lottery you always want the results close by. There are many sites showing the Lotto results, but it is always good to visit the source of information. All SA Lotto results that are administrated by the National Lottery are highlighted on the National Lottery South Africa results page.

There are also some of the international betting sites, like Betway, that offer participation in international lotteries and they show the lotto results at their websites.

In the 2007 financial year, a transaction worth R3.972 billion was recorded, with average transactions of five million weekly. In the year 2012, the South African lottery raised R4.7 billion in Lotto and Powerball tickets sales.

Undoubtedly, Lotto is the most famous type of South Africa gambling but the fastest-growing seem to be Powerball in the last years as a result of its high payouts.

Who can play at the National Lottery in South Africa?

• South Africa lotto players must be 18 or older
• Lottery tickets may be purchased in person at certified retailers, mobile device partners and participating South Africa banks.
• Online sale of lottery tickets is available only to eligible people who have an FNB, ABSA, Standard Bank and Nedbank account or have signed up the website of South African National Lottery and resides in South Africa with a valid ID.

SA Lotto games

Currently, a total of 8 games are operated under the brand South African National Lottery. The 8 current games are comprehensively reviewed below. For South African lotto players there is something for everyone. There is a lot of variation in the Lotto games and you can win big in all lottos in South Africa.

LOTTO

Players purchase lottery with their selection of 6 different digits between numbers 1 and 49; players can equally use ‘Quick Pick” to automatically generate their random numbers for those who don’t wish to select on their own.

During the live draw, 6 already numbered balls are pulled out without replacing them from a set of over 49 balls from numbers 1 to 49. An additional Bonus Ball is drawn also, which only affects players who have five (5) matched balls.

Players who manage to match 3 of the 6 drawn balls are awarded prizes, with such prizes increasing as drawn balls are matched. All lotto players who manage to match all the six drawn ball numbers win the same jackpot shares; well the chance of achieving that is 1 in 20,…. If 4, 5 or 6 balls are correctly matched, the relevant gift is shared equally between all players who match that number of balls. If no lotto player manages to match all six drawn numbers, a Rollover takes place, where the jackpot is rolled over to that of the next draw. Entry fee to the draw is just R5.00 per head, and draws are conducted on Wednesdays and Saturdays on a dedicated television channel SABC 2 at exactly 21.00.

LOTTO PLUS 1

The LOTTO PLUS 1 is the same as the earlier reviewed LOTTO but offers the player another chance of winning. A second chance for players to win, so to say. When purchasing a ticket, you have to pay an additional R2.50 to enter for the LOTTO PLUS 1 lotto draw. Odds are quite similar, while rewards are always a bit lower. The LOTTO PLUS 1 draw holds the same day as LOTTO draw, same station, and the same time as LOTTO.

LOTTO PLUS 2

This is also exactly similar to LOTTO but offers the player a third opportunity to win. When you purchase a ticket, you have to pay an additional R2.50 to qualify for the LOTTO PLUS 2 draw. Odds are similar, while rewards are a little lower. Draws hold the same days, station and time as LOTTO.

PowerBall

When Powerball was initially introduced, the jackpot draw needed players to select five major numbers from numbers 1- 45 and one number known as ‘PowerBall’ from 1 – 20 for just R5 per board entry fee. Rewards and Prizes will be won when a player(s) match the major numbers, with PowerBall number matches winning higher rewards and prizes. To win the top prize of the jackpot game, you must match all the five (5) major numbers including the PowerBall. Powerball jackpot draws are conducted on Tuesdays and Fridays on a dedicated Television channel – E.tv at exactly 21:00.

After November of 2015, changes were introduced to the odds as more chances to win were brought on board. A typical example is the recent additions, if the player should manage to match just the Powerball, the player would win a cash prize, while before 2015, that Powerball matched ticket would win nothing. Additionally, the number of major balls was increased to 50 from 45.

R102,016,595 is still the record prize for any Lottery in the country, and it came in PowerBall. This prize was never collected when it was won in the Free State. The highest ever claimed prize money was R91,068,427 also from PowerBall.

PowerBall PLUS

The only difference from PowerBall is that it gives the player another chance, somewhat a second opportunity to win. When purchasing a ticket for PowerBall, the player has to pay an additional R2.50 to qualify for the PowerBall PLUS lottery draw. Odds are however similar, while rewards are always a bit lower.

The Powerball PLUS lottery was a more recent addition by the South African National Lottery and is presently the newest game. PowerBall PLUS was introduced in 2015. The draws held every Tuesday and Friday at 21:00 on E.tv.

SPORTSTAKE 13

Here, a player gets to predict the outcomes of thirteen (13) predetermined fixtures drawn from the Premier League and other popular professional football match fixtures.

For every match fixture the player selects their prediction by ticking the bet slip;
[1] – back home win
[x] – back a draw
[2] – back home loss (back away win)

• Players can choose single or multiple results for each match fixture.
• A valid bet must have in it at least one selection per match fixture.
• A minimum reward per bet per board is about R2.00 including VAT, and a maximum bet per slip is about R2000.00.
• Each bet will cost players R2.00 including VAT.
• Players can select quick play optional, known as PRO PICK.
• There is no option for Multi-Draw.
• The outcome or result of each match is considered as the final scoreline after 90 mins of play or AET where applicable, it, however, excludes penalty shoot-out.

EAZiWIN

The South Africa National Lottery also sells digital scratch cards for instant wins, in addition to tickets for the main Draw Games.
Here, a digital card is compared against a regular slip and will not be scratched like the usual scratchcards. These are known as ‘EAZiWIN and are used for traditional African games., as cards range from R3 – R5.

PICK 3

PICK 3 is Lotto’s latest game which was officially launched on the 3rd of December 2016. This is a daily game with a top reward of R10,000.

History of Lotto South Africa

Lotto in South Africa was introduced in March of the year 2000. At that time, it was operated by Uthingo.

After an effort to market to about 80% of the entire South African population, over 800,000 lottery tickets were sold on day 1 and almost 70 million Rand worth of lottery tickets were sold in their first few weeks of existence.

In the month of October, the year 2002 lottery operator Uthingo suggested the need to introduce an everyday lottery draw to supplement every growing weekly draw. The idea of a daily lottery, known as Keno, was turned down by the ministry of trade and industry in 2003. Later that year, a supplementary for the weekly lottery called the Lotto Plus game was introduced and made available to players that buy the primary lotto ticket, in addition to an entry fee of just R1.

In 2006, Greek company Intralot a member of the Gidani consortium was judged the favored bidder to run the national lottery for 7 years beginning in April of the following year – 2007. The license of operation was issued in the latter part of 2006. In 2007 a court in Pretoria set aside that issuance on application by initial license holders Uthingo, citing that the failure to properly investigate the company shareholders causing conflicts of interest. The lottery license was suspended indefinitely in April of 2007, following the final draw by Uthingo.

However, in September of 2007, the license was issued to the Gidani consortium once again. Over 200,000 tickets were sold in the first couple of hours when the ticket went on sale. The operator later introduced scratch cards methods, but they were abandoned for many months when Gidani lost their operating license to another operator Ithuba.

Lotto licenses in South Africa were issued to ITHUBA in 2015. That same year, Ithuba introduced to the market 2 new games: EAZiWIN and PowerBall Plus. EaziWin happens to be an instant win game of four different types of games; Fafi Fortune, Morabaraba, PopaFeela and 4 SiyaWina.

Discontinued games

There are also some games that have been discontinued and are no longer operated by the National Lottery. Some of the older readers at Africacasinos.com will definitely remember some of the old lotteries in South Africa.

WinaManje

This was a scratchcard sort of game that has many forms of scratch cards. It was however replaced in 2015 by EAZiWIN.

Raffle

The National Lottery of South Africa announced sometime in 2016 that there would be a rather once-off Christmas raffle that year. The once-off draw took place on the 30th of December that year. It was formerly called “Raffle”. Prizes such as R1,000, R10,000, R100,000, were won with the top reward prize being a brand new Mercedes Benz C200.

Alternative means to play at the lottery in South Africa

In addition to buying a lottery ticket at an outlet, tickets can also be bought many other ways:

Online

All South Africa National Lottery can be played on the internet after sign up. There are 2 ways of playing online lotto.

South Africa National Lottery website: All the lotteries available in the country can be played through the website of the country’s National lottery.

Nedbank & FNB: South Africa lottery games are available through the applications of Nedbank and FNB banks.

It should also be noted that some international lotteries are offered to players in South Africa by off-shore gambling operators and online casinos that offer lottos like Eurojackpot and other international lotteries to SA lotto players.

Socio-economic impact of Lottery in South Africa

In 2003, reports claimed that 27% of players were unemployed in the country and that 43% of lottery players earned below R2,000 monthly. Besides, it was claimed that legalized betting had created over 50 673 jobs to South Africans in 2000.

The 2006 research revealed that 82% of players in South Africa played the lottery once weekly and that 53 % of the entire population does not play any other form of betting or gambling. The average South African player spent almost R81 monthly on the South Africa lottery.

Easiest to win in Lotto South Africa

Considering the odds, it’s easy to say that the Daily Lotto is the easiest South Africa lottery to win, with odds set at 1:376,992 for the prize! Looking at the lottery with the overall best jackpot-to-odds ratio, South Africa Lotto is our pick. Although it does have relatively lower odds at about 1:20,385,520 odds, this lottery offers some of the biggest prizes in South Africa, and when compared to Powerball’s odds of about 1:42,375,200 whose reward or prizes are only a little higher, you’re banking a decent deal!

Taxation

Luckily, South Africa lottery is not taxed. Aside from a professional bettor, the entirety of your winnings will be fully paid out to you. However, this may change in the nearest future as it has been proposed in the country that 6% tax be levied on online betting; 1% tax levied on revenue on the casino and a withholding tax of 15% on batting winnings more than R25,000. At the moment, winnings from the National Lottery winnings are considered as capital and are not added in an individual’s taxable income.

Lotteries SA Summary

With the look of things lately, lotteries in South Africa are undoubtedly starting to improve their quality of service to millions of players in the country, with new lottery games and regularly bigger jackpots, so it’s little surprise they’re gaining global recognition and popularity! At the National Lottery, they have three of the best lotteries in South Africa waiting for players to enjoy. With their great tax-free jackpot games, many divisions of prizes, you are a second to becoming a millionaire!
Play and win at South African Lottery Today!