Africa-Press – South-Africa. A lotto player believes his luck turned into tragedy after a lotto machine jammed while reading his ticket, making it impossible for the operator, Ithuba, to verify the numbers.
This was revealed in the findings of the Public Protector into allegations that the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition failed to address a complaint by Alex Magagula against the National Lotteries Commission (NLC).
In the complaint, in 2018, Magagula said he bought a lotto ticket and subsequently won the jackpot.
On 9 September 2016, he went to redeem the ticket at a retailer in Gezina, Pretoria, however, the lotto machine jammed, at the time of reading the ticket.
He then went to another terminal at the Sinoville Post Office the following day and he was paid R37.50.
He, however, claimed the winning ticket was worth R42 million.
In August 2017, Magagula approached the department and provided it with the NLC report.
He requested a meeting with the department to resolve the matter.
But no meeting was forthcoming, leading him to approach the Public Protector to intervene.
The executive manager for legal at the NLC, Tsietsi Maselwa, provided the Public Protector with a response letter, dated 25 March 2019, indicating that Magagula’s complaint was investigated by the NLC in 2017.
It confirmed his lotto ticket was validated for the amount of R37.50.
The NLC investigation revealed that the initial terminal in Gezina did not validate Magagula’s ticket – it was only validated at Sinoville Post Office, at which the correct amount of R37.50 was paid to him.
Ithuba confirmed the coupon he presented was paid correctly, and that his ticket was not a jackpot-winning ticket.
The jackpot, at the time, was rolled over and won at a much later date.
The Public Protector found the allegation that the department had failed to attend to the complaint was unsubstantiated.
The report further found that Magagula’s complaint was investigated by the NLC in compliance with the Lotteries Act.
Following the investigation, a meeting was held between Magagula, the department and the NLC, at which the prize payout process was explained to Magagula.
He was invited to provide the original coupon to assist Ithuba to obtain the numbers he played, which he failed to provide.
“Furthermore, the NLC, Ithuba and an independent auditor confirmed that the complainant did not win the R42 million jackpot nor was it won by anyone during the relevant Powerball draw,” the report said.
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