Grab the champagne! On Vancouver Island, lottery luck abounds.
A Victoria couple is celebrating their good fortune after claiming $500,000 from the January 7th Lotto Max Extra draw.
With their winnings, Emma and Seabata Makhakhe are eyeing two big purchases in South Africa—a new home for themselves in Cape Town, plus one for Seabata’s mom in Lesotho.
It’s a chunk of change the couple deems “life-changing,” noting they also plan to put a portion of the funds away for their children’s education.
They recall purchasing their winning ticket from a local Thrifty Foods, with Seabata discovering they had won after checking the Lotto! App.
At first, he was in shock.
“It said $500,000 and I stopped and thought ‘wait,’” Seabata said.
“I had never been so confused with numbers and had to google what $500,000 actually looked like to make sure it corresponded. Once it hit me, I started screaming ‘we won!’”
Emma and Seabata have now joined the rankings of local lotto winners.
Last month, a Duncan man won the Guaranteed $1-million Lotto 6/49 prize. And a few months prior, a Victoria woman was shocked to win almost $50,000.
