Emotional win for Mopani customer
Lekgeme Mapheto (39) got the surprise of his life last Thursday when he turned the key in the ignition of a brand-new Volkswagen Polo Vivo and it started.
This meant that he was now the proud owner of the car, after he entered Mopani's Win a Car competition.
Since March 19, Mopani customers diligently entered the competition. It was met with so much excitement that the deadline was extended until June 30.
To enter, customers had to spend R250 or more at any of the stores, or on the online store. Entry was automatic, either by swiping their Mopani Card in-store with every purchase or shopping online.
The finalists were drawn on the July 11 and notified soon thereafter.
The draw of the finalists was overseen by an independent auditor and done by way of a rand-between formula method on Excel.
A video of the process was published on the Mopani Pharmacy Facebook page on the same day.
Two of the 20 finalists could not be reached in time and only 18 finalists made it to the big day.
The final moment of suspense arrived. Eighteen finalists all gathered around for three elimination rounds before a winner was chosen.
First, they each got a sealed package with either red or blue key rings.
Those with blue key rings went on to the next round – cutting the finalists from 18 to nine.
From there, the remaining finalists each got a VW license disk holder. Again, an assigned colour in the form of a sticker at the bottom allowed for five finalists to go through to the final round.
By this time the tension could be cut with a knife as the five remaining finalists each picked a key at random, and told to in turn attempt to start the vehicle.
After three finalists each had a try,
Mapheto successfully started the car and won. “I have been a customer of Mopani since I moved here in 2007. I always felt part of the family. I really needed the car and I am thankful.
My car is currently not even running,” the emotional Mapheto said.
“We would like to sincerely thank each of our customers who entered, your support means a great deal to us. We are extremely excited to be able to give something back to our community and would like to extend a heartfelt congratulations to our winner, Lekgeme Mapheto,” said Mopani Pharmacy CEO,
Rob Gibbs.
The tension could be cut with a knife as the five remaining finalists each picked a key at random