How to play SA Lotto
Playing this game is easy: you need to choose six numbers from 1 to 58 (change of rules 58 numbers instead of 52 starting from 21 September, 2025). Winning Lotto numbers are being drawn every Wednesday and Saturday at 21:00, and can be checked on African Lottery NET.
- You need a Lotto bet slip, find it at your nearest retailer.
- Use a pencil or a pen to choose six numbers from 1 to 58 on as many boards as you wish.
- Take your Betslip to a cashier and make your payment - R5 for every one ticket per draw.
- You will get a ticket with chosen numbers, and you can sign it at the back.
- Check winning numbers on this site, and don't throw away a ticket! Always double check numbers from different sources (tv, newspaper, or official Ithuba site: https://www.nationallottery.co.za/results/lotto/).
Lotto prizes and odds
Prizes may vary in each draw. They depend on the fact if the jackpot was won and a number of winning players in the draw. Also, it is connected with an amount of sold tickets before the specific draw. The prize for matching three numbers is no longer guaranteed and fixed. Now if you match 3 of 6 numbers, you share the 21% prize pool with other players. There is also a new prize tier for 2/6 correct numbers. If somebody hit the jackpot, then the share of the prize pool is quite similar to shown below in the table.
| Matched numbers | Share of prize pool (new vs old) | New odds (58 numbers) | Odds of winning (old) |
| 6 correct | 36.7% / 73% | 1 in 40,475,358 | 1 in 20,358,520 |
| 5/6 + Bonus Ball | 0.9% / 2.3% | 1 in 6,745,893 | 1 in 3,393,087 |
| 5/6 | 1.4% / 4% | 1 in 763,686 | 1 in 75,402 |
| 4/6 + Bonus Ball | 2% /5% | 1 in 52,909 | 1 in 30,161 |
| 4/6 | 5% / 8.4% | 1 in 14,142 | 1 in 1,371 |
| 3/6 + Bonus Ball | 4% / 7.3% | 1 in 1,587 | 1 in 1,028 |
| 3/6 | 21% / fixed R 50 | 1 in 257 | 1 in 72 |
| 2/6 + Bonus Ball (old) | none / fixed R 20 | - | 1 in 96 |
| 2/6 (new) | 29% / none | 1 in 5 | - |
If you want to play the lottery, you need to know what are the odds of winning the jackpot after matching all six numbers of Lotto. Also, what are the odds of winning smaller prizes? To win the jackpot, you must defeat about 40 million possibilities (number of combinations). That means that one in approximately 40 million sold tickets wins the pot! Chances are quite low. When you play, make sure that the ticket price satisfie your expectations concerning what you can win.
Prize payout methods
You have one year to claim the cash you won. Smaller prizes are possible to withdraw directly from your official Ithuba wallet to your bank. You can remain anonymous after the win.
Lotto prize tax
There is no additional tax to pay after claiming the lottery prize (How to claim Lotto winnings?). All fees are already paid at the ticket price.
Where to watch draw online?
You can watch every draw in the local television like SABC2 (20:56). Another option is to use youtube channel located here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQWsxwRUFJHNfT202GVFghQ (broadcasts added after the drawing).
Lotto jackpots and rollovers
In this lottery game, there is something we call rollover. Jackpot prize grows as long as nobody matches the 6/6 numbers and Bonus Ball. That means pool for 1st prize division is rolled over to the next Draw's corresponding division. That provides from time to time great cash prizes opportunities.
- If there are no winners in division 2-6 then the pool rolls down to the lower division, e.g. division 3 to division 4.
- If there are no winners in division 7 (quite impossible), then the pool rolls over to division 1 of the next draw.
- Breakage from any Lotto division rolls over to the same division next draw.
How big is the jackpot?
The SA Lotto jackpot is estimated to be R34,000,000. The minimal jackpot amount is set to R2 million. There is no upper limit.
