Dudu Busani

Dudu Busani

A whopping R35million is up for grabs tomorrow to celebrate the national lottery's seventh birthday.

The prize is the biggest since Lotto was launched in Cape Town in March 2000.

Uthingo spokesman Shenanda Janse van Rensburg said the R37million is a guaranteed jackpot.

"Every year in March we offer a large guaranteed jackpot prize.

"We do this to celebrate our birthday and one person becomes a multi-millionaire," she said.

Lotto's first-ever millionaire was Batsirayi Mupfawi, who won just more than R13million. The largest amount ever pocketed was by an anonymous Gauteng individual, who won R30352465 in 2005.

Also in 2005, Lotto's add-on game Lotto-Plus was launched.

Van Rensburg said the money used for guaranteed jackpots was not entirely generated from sales. She said some of the cash came from unclaimed prizes.

Lotto prizes can only be claimed unitil 365 days after the draw. To date, 698 South Africans have become millionaires.