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Island couple plans to buy mom a home, save for kids education with $500,000 win

South African real estate, peace of mind come with lottery win
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Seabata and Emma Makhakhe won $500,000 on the Jan. 7 Lotto Max Extra draw with a ticket bought at Thrifty Foods on Fairfield Road. (Courtesy of BCLC)

Education and houses in South Africa are dreams coming true for a Victoria couple after winning on the Lotto Max Extra.

Emma and Seabata Makhakhe won $500,000 on the Jan. 7 draw with a ticket bought at Thrifty Foods on Fairfield Road.

Seabata discovered they won on a Sunday morning after checking it on the Lotto! app.

“It said $500,000 and I stopped and thought wait … Once it hit me, I started screaming ‘we won!’” Seabata said in a news release from the B.C. Lottery Corporation.

READ ALSO: Victoria resident shocked after winning almost $50,000 in Lotto 6/49 draw

The couple plans to invest in South African real estate with a home for Seabata’s mom in Lesotho and a small one for themselves in Cape Town.

Some funds will be put away for their children’s education.

In 2021, B.C. lottery players redeemed more than $42 million in winnings from the Extra and more than $262 million from Lotto Max.

READ ALSO: Record-breaking $100.4 million won in lottery tickets on Vancouver Island in 2021

c.vanreeuwyk@blackpress.ca


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