The results for the South African national lottery are announced at the end of each draw. Two draws take place each week, on a Wednesday and a Saturday respectively. The draws are televised live and are monitored by an independent auditor to ensure fairness and to testify that the lottery machines and ball sets used have not been tampered with in any way. The Lotto machines and balls are also tested by Wits University to make sure that they are working properly and that the balls are all the same size and shape.
There are two main Lotto draws that take place each Wednesday and Saturday night. The one is the main draw – the Lotto draw. The Lotto is the game with the highest estimated jackpot and prize money. The Lotto draw usually takes place first. Following the Lotto draw is the Lotto Plus draw. The Lotto Plus was added to the existing Lotto draw as a way for people to get another chance to win. The Lotto Plus makes use of a person’s existing Lotto numbers. For this reason, you have to first enter the Lotto draw in order to be eligible to enter the Lotto Plus draw.
Players therefore choose six numbers for the Lotto, and then if they choose, they can enter those same numbers in the Lotto Plus draw. In the case of both the Lotto and the Lotto Plus draws, seven numbers are drawn at a time. Six main numbers and a so-called bonus ball. Even though players use the same numbers for the Lotto and Lotto Plus draws, two different sets of winning numbers are drawn, the one after the other. The results of both draws are made available immediately but prize money can only be collected the following day.
The Lotto and Lotto Plus tickets are very affordable with the regular Lotto ticket costing R5.00 and the Lotto Plus fee that is added on, being R1.50. This makes this a very accessible form of gambling for all South Africans – one of the reasons for the South African national lottery’s popularity.