Two SA Lotto winners died soon after their big wins, raising talk of a ‘lottery curse’

Two South African Lotto millionaires died not long after their wins, a pattern that The South African says has prompted questions about a so‑called “lottery curse” and why winners increasingly choose anonymity.

Fatal crashes after life‑changing wins

According to The South African, Durban schoolteacher Dingiswayo Albert Gumede won R7.45 million in the National Lottery. Less than two months after his win, a minibus taxi collided with Gumede’s Toyota Corolla in Avoca Hills, killing him; paramedics worked on him for over an hour, The South African reports.

The publication also recounts the case of Nhlanhla “Budha” Dlamini, who won an R18 million Lotto jackpot in 2014. Two years later, The South African says Dlamini was killed instantly when the V8 Mercedes‑Benz convertible he was driving collided with a bakkie at high speed and rolled multiple times; his passenger also died on impact.

Pattern and reactions

The South African draws attention to the similarity between the two cases: both men won life‑changing sums and both had their lives cut short not long after. The publication frames this as the same unsettling pattern seen elsewhere that some describe as a “lottery curse.”

Choices by winners

The South African quotes an observation on why winners now often seek anonymity:

“I think stories like these are exactly why so many South African winners choose to stay anonymous these days, hey.”

Further reading

The South African also refers readers to an earlier piece it published about what happens to a Lotto prize if a winner dies before claiming it.