National Lottery Raffle (2024)

  1. Lottery.co.za
  2. National Lottery Raffle

The National Lottery Raffle is unlike any other game as it can give you the chance to win luxury non-cash prizes, such as cars and even houses. A number of prizes are offered with each edition of the game and they are all guaranteed to be won. Raffle draws are special events and are not scheduled for any particular date; they are instead usually held to mark big occasions such as Christmas.

Raffle ResultsHow to PlayPrizesHistoryFAQsRules

How to Play

The Raffle is simple to play, as you don’t have to pick your numbers like in a traditional lottery; you just have to purchase a ticket to be in with a chance of winning. Follow the steps below to play in-store or online:

Online

  • Open an online lottery account or sign in to an existing one
  • Select the Raffle
  • Choose how many tickets you want to purchase
  • Pay for your entries

Your Raffle entries will be saved in your online account.

In-Store

  • Visit any National Lottery retailer
  • Request the number of tickets you would like
  • Pay for your tickets
  • Keep your entries safe until the raffle takes place

The Raffle can also be played via alternative channels such as RA Cellular or A2PAY. Go to the How to Play page for more information about the various entry methods.

You can play until half an hour before the draw is held or until all the tickets have been sold. The cost of the Raffle may change with each draw, as may the number of tickets available.

Tickets will show a seven-digit number that is unique to your entry, and they are sold in sequential order. It is not possible to pick your own numbers.

Prizes and Odds of Winning

The prizes are different in every Raffle, but they are not always cash payouts like in other lotteries. Since the Raffle started, the National Lottery has given away cars and houses worth a certain value, as well as smaller cash prizes.

To win a prize, your seven-digit number must match one of the winning tickets randomly selected in the Raffle. All seven digits must match in the exact order.

The prizes are guaranteed to be won because only tickets that have been sold are entered into the Raffle. The number of prizes that will be offered varies, but this will always be announced in advance.

Visit the How to Claim page for more information about what to do if you win.

SA Raffle History

Millions of rand in cash and dozens of luxury prizes have been given away since the National Lottery Raffle was first played in December 2016. See what prizes were available in previous editions of the Raffle.

Friday 10 January 2020

Ten Mercedes C200 Cabriolets were given away in the 2019 Raffle, the draw for which took place in January 2020.

2019 Raffle Prizes and Odds
PrizeNumber of PrizesOdds of Winning*Prize Division ValuePercentage of Prize Pool
Mercedes Benz C200 Cabriolet101 in 50,000R7.79 million62%
R50,000201 in 25,000R1 million8%
R10,0001551 in 3,226R1.55 million12%
R1,0002,1601 in 231R2.16 million18%
* There were 500,000 tickets available for this raffle, making the overall odds of winning a prize 1 in 213

Saturday 29 December 2018

Six players received R2 million to spend on new homes, while there were also 50 players who won R10,000 each.

2018 Raffle Prizes and Odds
PrizeNumber of PrizesOdds of Winning*Prize Division ValuePercentage of Prize Pool
Home worth R2 million61 in 83,333R12 million96%
R10,000501 in 10,000R500,0004%
* There were 500,000 tickets sold for this raffle, making the overall odds of winning a prize 1 in 8,929

Saturday 30 December 2017

Twenty-five winners each took home a Mini Cooper Convertible in the second Raffle of 2017, part of a total prize pool worth R15 million.

December 2017 Raffle Prizes and Odds
PrizeNumber of PrizesOdds of Winning*Prize Division ValuePercentage of Prize Pool
Mini Cooper convertible251 in 60,000R9.125 million60.8%
R10,0003001 in 5,000R3 million20%
R2,5003001 in 1,304R2.875 million19.2%
* The overall odds of winning a prize were 1 in 1,017

Saturday 27 May 2017

A Raffle on 27 May 2017 offered a jackpot of R1 million to each of 12 winners, and a total prize fund of R21 million, the most ever given away in a single Raffle draw.

May 2017 Raffle Prizes and Odds
PrizeNumber of PrizesOdds of Winning*Prize Division ValuePercentage of Prize Pool
R1 million121 in 166,666R12 million57.14%
R100,000301 in 66,666R3 million14.29%
R10,0005001 in 4,000R5 million23.81%
R1,0001,0001 in 2,000R1 million4.76%
* The overall odds of winning a prize were 1 in 1,297

Friday 30 December 2016

The first ever National Lottery Raffle offered 15 brand new Mercedes’, each worth nearly R700,000. There was also over R10 million in cash given away.

May 2017 Raffle Prizes and Odds
PrizeNumber of PrizesOdds of Winning*Prize Division ValuePercentage of Prize Pool
Mercedes-Benz C-Class Cabriolet151 in 133,333R10.3 million49.63%
R100,000451 in 44,444R4.5 million21.59%
R10,0005001 in 4,000R5 million23.98%
R1,0001,0001 in 4,000R5 million4.80%
* The overall odds of winning a prize were 1 in 1,282

FAQs

If you need to know anything else about the Raffle, including when the next one is due to be held or how much tickets cost, see the frequently asked questions below.

Show All Answers

+ When is the next Raffle?

The date of the next National Lottery Raffle has not yet been announced. Check this page later to find out when the next Raffle is due to be drawn.

+ How much does it cost?

The cost of tickets varies from year to year - tickets for the 2019 Raffle cost R50 each.

+ What is the jackpot worth?

The top prize in the Raffle varies from year to year. In past draws cars, cash and even houses have been given away.

+ Can I play the Raffle from overseas?

The Raffle is only available to permanent residents of South Africa or people with a South African work permit who are situated in the country.

+ Can I choose my own numbers?

No, you cannot choose your numbers for the Raffle, as each entry has to be unique. Tickets are individually numbered and sold in sequential order.

+ How many tickets can I buy?

You can buy a maximum of R2,000 (including VAT) worth of Raffle tickets. As the ticket price changes with each Raffle, the exact number of tickets you can buy each time will vary.

Raffle Rules

Make sure you know the rules of playing before you purchase a ticket for the Raffle to avoid any issues when it's time to claim a prize.

  • Purchased tickets can only be cancelled if they are illegible, incomplete, or are printed in error.
  • Tickets must be returned to the retailer they were issued from within two hours of the purchase to qualify for a refund, subject to the conditions above.
  • Tickets purchased online or via SmartCall cannot be cancelled or refunded.
  • Players can only win one prize per ticket.
  • Although tickets are limited, ticket numbers may exceed the stated amount available as they will include any cancelled entries.
  • If not all the Raffle tickets are sold by the close of sales the Raffle may be postponed until a later date.
  • You must be at least 18 years of age and a permanent resident of South Africa, or have a South African work permit and bank account, to enter the Raffle.
National Lottery Raffle (2024)

FAQs

What is the formula for the lottery algorithm? ›

Understand the calculations involved.

To find the odds of winning any lottery, divide the number of winning lottery numbers by the total number of possible lottery numbers. If the numbers are chosen from a set and the order of the numbers doesn't matter, use the formula. r ! ( n − r ) !

How to win the lottery strategies? ›

To better your chances of winning any lottery, you have to buy more tickets, he said. The more tickets, the more chances of choosing the right combination of numbers.

How many tickets would you have to buy to guarantee a lottery win? ›

British mathematicians say they've figured out how to guarantee a lottery win by buying 27 tickets.

What would you do if you won the lottery answers? ›

The survey did find some more practical responses when asking Americans what would be the first thing they would do with the all that money:
  • 29% - Pay off existing debt.
  • 15.9% - Put money aside to take care of family/friends.
  • 15.0% - Invest the money.
Oct 11, 2023

How to win lottery mathematically? ›

There is only one known way to ensure winning the jackpot. That is to buy at least one lottery ticket for every possible number combination. For example, one has to buy 13,983,816 different tickets to ensure to win the jackpot in a 6/49 game.

What are the 6 most common winning lottery numbers? ›

The most frequently drawn winning numbers from the main barrel are 17, 7, 11, 2, 3 and 9, while the least frequently drawn are 33, 15, 34, 31, 26 and 1. The most frequently drawn Powerball numbers are 19 and 2, while the least frequently drawn Powerball numbers are 14 and 16.

What happens if you get all 5 numbers but not the Powerball? ›

Matching three main numbers and the Powerball or four main numbers, that's a $100 payout. To land a $50,000 prize, you'll have to match four main numbers and the Powerball. If you match five main numbers but not the Powerball, your ticket is worth $1 million.

Is it possible to buy every combination for Powerball? ›

The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292,201,338 -- that's the number of possible combinations of white balls and the red Powerball. At the price of $2 per ticket, that means you could buy every possible combination for $584,402,676.

How much would it cost to buy every Mega Millions combination? ›

Those odds never change. So, under the basic premise that if you (or you and your friends) spend $2 per ticket: It would cost you $605,200,000 to buy one of each possible Mega Millions combination to guarantee a win.

What do you do immediately after winning the lottery? ›

Before you do so, there are things you should do:
  1. Safeguard the ticket.
  2. Be choosy about who you tell about your win.
  3. Engage a Lawyer and Financial Advisor.
  4. Decide on taking the lump-sum or annuity option.
  5. Plan on income taxes in two parts.
  6. Engage in tax-focused estate planning.
Jan 31, 2024

What's the smartest thing to do after winning the lottery? ›

Get into investing

Saving money will only enable you to keep it secure for a while, but investing will allow your money to grow and generate passive income. While investing might not be the most interesting thing to think about after winning the lottery, it is definitely the smartest thing to do.

What would you do if you won $10,000? ›

Imagine You've Won
  1. Paying down existing debt.
  2. Putting that money toward a child's education.
  3. Spending it on a nice vacation for your family.
  4. Putting it all toward your emergency savings.
  5. Investing it directly into the markets.
  6. Giving it to a charity.
  7. Improving your home.
Mar 28, 2024

Is there a way to predict winning lottery numbers? ›

There is no such thing as a winning formula because lotteries are games of chance. There is no strategies which can give a player a better than average chance of beating the odds.

Is there a method to picking lottery numbers? ›

In particular, pick random numbers. If you pick your favorite number or the day of your birthday like the 7th, which is the day of the next drawing, many people can be doing the same and that puts a lot of numbers between 1 and 31. Picking your own numbers doesn't change the odds of winning.

How do lottery machines generate random numbers? ›

The reading is expressed as a long number of code; that number gives the generator its true randomness. The random number is called the seed, and the seed is plugged into the algorithm, a pseudorandom number generator called the Mersenne Twister. At the end, the computer spits out the winning lottery numbers.

What is the pattern of the lottery numbers? ›

Can you spot patterns by studying winning lottery numbers? Glickman also debunks the idea that studying past lottery number winners can help you spot patterns. “There is no pattern,” he said. “It's entirely random.”

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Lilliana Bartoletti

Last Updated:

Views: 5251

Rating: 4.2 / 5 (53 voted)

Reviews: 92% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Lilliana Bartoletti

Birthday: 1999-11-18

Address: 58866 Tricia Spurs, North Melvinberg, HI 91346-3774

Phone: +50616620367928

Job: Real-Estate Liaison

Hobby: Graffiti, Astronomy, Handball, Magic, Origami, Fashion, Foreign language learning

Introduction: My name is Lilliana Bartoletti, I am a adventurous, pleasant, shiny, beautiful, handsome, zealous, tasty person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.