The independent guide to South African lottery sites

Yes, with rules. The National Gambling Act of 2004 and the Lotteries Act of 1997 set the framework. Ithuba holds the national lottery licence and runs SA Lotto and SA Powerball. You can buy tickets directly from Ithuba and from a few SA-licensed online sellers.

Tickets in foreign draws like US Powerball or EuroMillions are also legal to buy from SA. You go through a licensed agent like TheLotter or Lotto Agent. The agent operates under a foreign licence, buys the real ticket on your behalf, and pays out the real prize. You must be 18 or older.

Through a licensed ticket agent like TheLotter. A single US Powerball line costs about R85 plus a small service fee, so you pay roughly R100 a line when you account for the markup. The agent buys a real US ticket in your name, scans it back to you, and pays out the full US prize if you win.

For comparison, SA Lotto is R5 a line from Ithuba. The price gap pays for the agent buying a real foreign ticket on your behalf, plus shipping the scan back to you. There is no cheaper legal route from SA to a real US Powerball ticket.

SA Lotto and SA Powerball prizes are tax-free at the point of win. SARS treats lottery winnings as capital, not income, so you take the cheque at face value. The first R25,000 a year of prize money is fully tax-free under current SARS rules, and bigger prizes are also paid out tax-free.

Once the money is in your account, the interest and growth on it are taxed normally. International prizes can carry withholding tax in the source country. US Powerball, for example, withholds 30% federal tax for non-resident winners before the prize is paid. Read the small print on any foreign draw before you celebrate.

Both are licensed ticket agents. They buy a real physical ticket for you in the lottery’s home country, scan it, and pay out the full real prize if it wins. Neither is a bookmaker, you are not betting on the result, you own the entry.

TheLotter covers more games, has a longer track record, and is the standard pick for US Powerball, MegaMillions and EuroMillions. Lotto Agent has a lower minimum entry, often around R55 a line on big draws versus R85 on TheLotter, which makes it cheaper for casual entries. Coverage and service speed differ, so the right pick depends on which draw you want and how much you spend.

Within 30 minutes of the draw close, weeknights around 21:00 SAST. SA Lotto, Lotto Plus 1 and Lotto Plus 2 draw on Wednesday and Saturday. SA Powerball and Powerball Plus draw on Tuesday and Friday.

The official feed lives on the National Lotteries Commission site. We mirror the public za.national-lottery.com source and surface the latest four draws at the top of this page, refreshed every 30 minutes, so you do not need to refresh by hand.