The Saga Continues....

The other day I wrote about the rags to riches story of the deaf-mute cleaner from Parkwood who won 91 million rand in the lotto. This story has changed drastically in a few days......and for all you sentimentals out there, be warned, there is no fairytale ending for our symbolic winner.

According to news reports he did have the winning ticket, unfortunately it was for the following draw which made his ticket invalid for the 91 million and a 43 year old mother of two and businesswoman took home the grand prize. It's the ultimate in a cruel joke, having the winning ticket and for the wrong draw. The main concern now is this man and his family's disappearance. They apparently moved due to the fact that they were hounded by extended family, friends and complete strangers all looking for a handout.

People in the public have been commenting on this story for the last week saying that he should have won and that the woman who actually did hold the valid winning ticket shouldn't have won because of her richer status. This is taking it a little too far don't you think? I agree that it's a tragedy for this man, who has obviously not had an easy road to travel in his life and as much as I would have loved to have seen him change his life for the better, we can't take the joy out of the win for this woman. She has cleverly chosen to remain anonymous but the beauty of the lotto is that anyone, anywhere and at anytime can win. If you're circumstances are extremely bad, then a win is a major blessing but for someone more fortunate it's still a blessing none the less.

From reports in the media it seems she is quite money savvy and is using her new found riches wisely, putting the minds of National Lottery operator Gidani at rest. My heart goes out to that man and his family and I pray that he will be able to recover from this debacle but I want to congratulate the woman, well done on winning, you deserved it no less than he did.