• The winner of a R51 million Lotto bonanza is still in shock over his good fortune. 
• Nobody in the family knows yet that he has won millions 
• He has not yet spent a cent and is focusing on “cooling down first”.

The winner of a R51 million lottery bonanza is still in shock. 

“I am just going to cool down,” he told News24 on condition of anonymity. 

He seemed hesitant to even mouth the words “R51 mil” when asked what the winning ticket for the PowerBall yielded. 

“I was so nervous. But now the nervousness is coming down.” 

He did not expect the nerves that would come with actually winning after standing in the queue to play a modest few lines in Polokwane every week.

The R30 with his chosen numbers bought at a supermarket brought unimagined good fortune, and his biggest worry now is being taken advantage of. 

However, national lottery operator Ithuba offers trauma counselling to assist with this unexpected sense of shock, and how to navigate profoundly changed fortunes.

The winner is still going to work, and plans to break the news to family this weekend. 

Not yet sure whether he would stop working for the moment, he is, however, planning repairs to his widowed mother’s house, and to build his own.

Asked what the first purchase with the big win was, there was a chuckle, and the simple reply: “Nothing!”

“I need to think. I need to calm down,” he said.

In a statement from Ithuba, the winner said: “I wanted to study for a qualification in social work after my matric, but unfortunately there was no money to send me to school so I had to look for a job so that I could help my family.”

The plan is now to get this qualification.

“Winning this money does not mean that I must abandon my dream qualification – it was never just about me. It has always bothered me to see young children suffer in my neighborhood. Their parents receive social grants for them but end up just wasting the money on their own wants.

“I want to be able to offer effective and sustainable assistance to my community, and getting the social work qualification will help me do just that.”

In the meantime, he was treated to a steak dinner on Monday night to celebrate.Ithuba’s group CEO, Charmaine Mabuza, congratulated the winner in a statement saying: “This money could not have gone to a more deserving person. We need more people to pay it forward by going back to their communities and initiate practical assistance.”