Lottery in South Africa: all games, results, jackpots & rules

History

South Africa's National Lottery launched on 11 March 2000. It has been run in turn by Uthingo (2000–2007), Gidani (2007–2015) and Ithuba (2015–2026). Since 1 June 2026 Sizekhaya Holdings has held the fourth licence.

What changed in 2026?

With the new operator the games were redesigned: since 3 June 2026 Lotto is played as 6 from 52 again (previously 6 from 58), and so is Lotto Plus 1. PowerBall now has 16 PowerBalls instead of 20 and costs R10 per board; PowerBall Plus has been renamed PowerBall XTRA (R5). Daily Lotto (5 from 36, R3) remains, Daily Lotto Plus was dropped. Lotto and PowerBall are drawn live with ball machines again. Our Lotto statistics therefore start with the new format.

Minimum age and tax

Players must be 18; the regulator is the National Lotteries Commission (NLC). For casual players lottery winnings are not taxed; according to tax advisers, people who gamble regularly as a business may be taxed on them as income.

Which game has the best odds?

Daily Lotto has by far the best jackpot odds (1 in 376,992) but a smaller, shared prize; Lotto and PowerBall offer rolling jackpots with much longer odds. The comparison above shows price, odds and current expected value for every South African game. No system changes the odds.