South Africans everywhere woke up to the news that a Western Cape based man had one a massive R91 Million in South Africa's richest lottery payout to date. A regional Afrikaans newspaper revealed the identity of the man - including details of his family and published his photo prominently.

As one would expect, the man was suddenly inundated with people hopeful of cashing in on the man's good fortune. The demands and requests became so intense, that the man and his family were whisked away (reportedly by Gidani) to a place of safety.

But the plot thickened this morning when a Gidani spokesman told a media briefing that the man was in fact not the winner, and that the real winner had instead chosen to remain anonymous. Now, obviously this raises many questions...

Firstly: Why did it take Gidani so long to officially denounce the press article?

Secondly: How did the press identify - wrongly - this man as the winner?

If the man really isn't the winner, then his life has been ruined for nothing. Whoever is at fault here needs to fess up. If it is the fault of the newspaper, then the journalist who "uncovered" this story must be sacked, and ordered by a court to pay damages to the man. The newspaper should pay damages to the man as well. In fact, the newspaper should print a full, front page apology and issue a retraction if it is at fault.

If Gidani is at fault, then whomever leaked the information (even if it were inaccurate) to the press should be fired and be made to pay damages (along with Gidani) to the man.

It's not really a facepalm moment in as much as it is travesty of a human beings right to dignity and privacy.