How to Play Lotto Online in South Africa

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How does Lotto Work in South Africa?

The South African National Lottery is operated by Ithuba Holdings, which has led the system to become known as the Ithuba National Lottery. Players can buy tickets for a number of different games, including the traditional Lotto and multiple versions of Powerball. Overall, the lottery is the most popular form of gambling in South Africa.

You can play the SA lotto online through both a web-based interface or a mobile device. Tickets for all of the major lotto games in South Africa are on sale, and you can keep track of all of your tickets and your winnings through a single account. Any South African aged 18 or older can play online lotto in SA. 

Is it Better to Play Lotto Online?

There are a number of reasons to prefer playing lotto online rather than buying your tickets in person.

The most obvious one is convenience. Once you’ve set up your account, you’ll be able to buy your tickets quickly and easily with just a few clicks. That’s far easier than making trips to a local retail location to buy paper tickets every time you want to play.

Online lotto play is a guarantee that you will never lose a ticket. Physical lotto tickets can be lost, stolen, or destroyed after you buy them. If that happens, you’re usually out of luck, even if you would have won a prize! When you play lotto online in South Africa, your tickets will be digitally stored, so you’ll always be sure you’re collecting all of your winnings.

Online lotto simply offers more variety to choose from. You can opt for the national online lottery, but you can also buy tickets for international lotteries such as the US Powerball and the UK national lottery, which usually come with a massive jackpot.

Types of South African Lotteries by the Ithuba National Lottery

If you want to know how to play lotto online, you’ll need to know the games that are offered. The Ithuba National Lottery has a number of different lotto games to choose from. Here’s a quick breakdown of each one.

Lotto

Lotto is a traditionally lottery game in which you must pick six numbers between 1 and 52. You can also choose a Quick Pick in which your numbers are randomly picked. Each ticket costs R5.00 to play. If you match all six numbers, you can win a progressive jackpot typically worth tens of millions of rand. However, even matching just two balls and a bonus number is enough to win a prize of R20. Lotto draws are held each Wednesday and Saturday.

Lotto Plus 1/Lotto Plus 2

Lotto Plus 1 and Lotto Plus 2 are bonus games that can be played if you buy a regular Lotto ticket. For an additional R2.50, you can enter your ticket into Lotto Plus 1 as well. For another additional R2.50, the ticket will be part of the Lotto Plus 2 draw. The lowest fixed prizes for the Lotto Plus games are lower – for instance, you will only win R15 for matching two numbers and the bonus ball. In addition, since not everyone plays Lotto Plus, the jackpots are also smaller, though they are still worth millions of rand.

Powerball

In Powerball, you must pick five numbers between 1 and 50, as well as an extra number – the Powerball – between 1 and 20. Each ticket costs R5.00. To win the jackpot, you must match all numbers, including the Powerball. However, there are smaller prizes available, down to R10 just for hitting the Powerball alone. Powerball has generated most of the largest jackpots in SA online lotto history, with one jackpot in 2019 reaching R232 million.

Powerball Plus

Powerball Plus is similar to Lotto Plus. For an extra R2.50, any Powerball ticket can also be entered into the Powerball Plus drawing. The Powerball Plus prizes are smaller than in the main game, but the jackpots can still grow quite large, with one 2020 jackpot growing to more than R150 million.

Sportstake 8/Sportstake 13

The Sportstake games ask you to predict the results of a number of football matches from top leagues around the world. In Sportstake 8, you’ll be asked to predict both halves of eight games (16 half predictions in total), while Sportstake 13 asks you to predict the final result of 13 matches. Each ticket costs R2.00. If you don’t want to make your own picks, you can use the Pro Pick option to receive a combination of expert and random choices.

For Sportstake 8, you must match at least 13 of 16 outcomes to win a prize, with a perfect 16 for 16 winning the jackpot.  In Sportstake 13, getting at least 10 matches right will earn you a prize, with a perfect ticket needed for that jackpot as well. Jackpots start in the hundreds of thousands of rand, but can grow to R1 million or more.

EAZiWIN

EAZiWIN is an instant game that can be played in person or online. There are a number of different titles available with names like Fafi Fortune, Calabash Cash, Popa Feela Plus, and Balloon Bonanza. Ticket prices vary, with R3.00, R5.00, and R10 being common. These are usually matching games: the more numbers you match, the more you stand to win. Top prizes vary: for instance, in Fafi Fortune, the top prize for a R5.00 ticket is R75,000.

Daily Lotto

In the Daily Lotto, you must pick five numbers between 1 and 36. Each ticket costs R3.00. In order to win, you must match at least two numbers, with larger prizes available for matching three, four, or five numbers. Prizes vary each day depending on the number of players and winners.

International Lotteries in South Africa

International lotteries are also available to you in South Africa. While you can’t buy these tickets directly from the Ithuba National Lottery, there are third-party services online that can purchase tickets for you in some of the world’s biggest lotteries. Here are a few of the most famous lotteries you can play from other countries:

Play the National South African Lottery vs. International Lottery

One of the most common questions we get is whether you should play the SA lotto online, or opt for international lotteries instead. In truth, there are advantages to either approach.

Our recommended sites offer you both domestic South African lotteries and international games so that you can choose whichever type of game you prefer to play.

Which Lottery are You Most Likely to Win?

All lottery jackpots are very difficult to win – that’s how the prizes can grow so large. However, some games are easier to crack than others.

For instance, every ticket you purchase in the SA Lotto has a 1 in 20,358,520 chance to winning a share of the jackpot. That may seem unlikely, but it’s actually one of the easiest jackpots to win! The odds of winning South African Powerball are more than 42.3 million to one. The biggest international lotteries are even tougher to win: EuroMillions is nearly 1 in 140 million, while each ticket has a 1 in 292.2 million chance in US Powerball.

How to Buy Your Lotto Ticket Online

If you’re not sure how to play the lotto online, don’t worry – it’s simple to start purchasing international or SA lotto tickets from one of our trusted sites. Here’s a quick guide to how the process works.

How do You Claim Your Lottery Winnings Online?

If you have lottery winnings to claim, you will be informed about your win via SMS or your personal national lottery inbox. For most prizes, your winnings will be automatically added to your account after the site can cash the ticket themselves, though procedures can vary slightly depending on the game played and the size of the prize. If participating in the Ithuba National Lottery, any prize less than R50,000 will be paid directly to your account with no need for further identification. A prize over R50,000 requires you to fill out a prize claim form and a visit to one of the Ithuba regional offices.

For jackpot prizes, you will usually need to collect your prize locally by traveling to the country where the lottery was held. Some of the top lottery providers will assist by paying for your flight. There, employees of the site you bought your ticket through will help you collect your winnings.

Do You Pay Taxes on Lottery Winnings in South Africa?

Currently, there are no taxes due on lottery prizes in South Africa. Winners are free from both income taxes and capital gains taxes. That means you will be able to enjoy the entirety of anything you win while playing the SA lotto online.

How Long Does it Take to get the Money in South Africa When You Win the Lottery?

Most lottery prizes are paid very quickly, as winning tickets simply need to be exchanged at a retail outlet for their prizes. However, jackpots and other very large prizes may take longer to claim. Even for jackpots, however, winners rarely have to wait long, with most top prizes being paid in a matter of days or weeks at most. For the largest jackpots, players can usually choose to be paid in one lump sum or in payments over the course of 20 or 30 years.