Do you work with a 50-year-old man somewhere in Cape Town?

Was that 50-year-old man not at work yesterday, having flown off to Jozi?

Finally, does the 50-year-old man like Panama hats?

Boom – you work with South Africa’s latest PowerBall winner, who netted a whopping R232 million when he landed the big one. Not a bad return on the R22,50 ticket he bought at the OK Mini Market in Tygerdal, Goodwood.

The winner wishes to remain anonymous, which is probably a good idea, although he did give an exclusive interview to eNCA at the Ithuba offices in Sandton. It didn’t feature his face, but his voice can be clearly heard.

Before we get to that interview, let’s get some of the basics via TimesLIVE:

“Sometimes for me, I felt like I disappointed my kids because I cannot provide for them what I promised them. But I was always on my knees – and my prayers have been answered,” said the man…

Despite his new multimillionaire status, his wish list does not include a luxury holiday or a shopping spree. Instead, he said his priority was his children’s education.

Word of advice – a cool R232 million can sort out your kids’ education (even Hilton) AND a holiday in Panama.

Back to the interview:

While other lotto winners may jump at the opportunity to hand in their resignation letter and start enjoying the good life, this multimillionaire wants to do all he can to remain under the radar and will therefore continue to report for work.

“If I quit now, it will be suspicious,” he said. “I will keep my job and carry on like normal.”

He said if anything his family’s life would only change “slightly” because from now on they would not be living hand to mouth as they were for many years before the jackpot.

“We are not going to live for the world to see that we are rich,” he said.

Man, just quit your damn job and live it up a little. If I netted even a 20th of that, I would never work another day in my life, or at least until the money ran out.

Turns out our winner is definitely a case of ‘if at first, you don’t succeed’…

The winner of the country’s biggest-ever lotto jackpot suggested that his luck stemmed from perseverance. “I chose the numbers since 2007 … I played the same numbers whenever I got the chance to play,” he said, adding that he always believed it would one day be his turn to win.

Fair enough, then.

So, to hear from the winner himself (and to see if you recognise his voice), here’s that interview with eNCA:

I reckon he’s going to be getting a few knocks on the door from long lost aunties in the days and weeks to come.

[sources:timeslive&enca]