Cape Town - Cape Town’s newest millionaire, Noeleen Marais, was yesterday announced as the winner of the R1 million cash prize as part of the KFM and Lotto Star “Your Month of Millions'' competition.
The competition was played during the KFM morning show hosted by Darren Simpson, Sherlin Barends and Sibongile Mafu.
The competition had been running since October, with three weeks of on-air games. After the three weeks, 300 golden ticket winners were narrowed down to only 30.
On Monday night, Marais received a call from the radio station to tell her that she had been selected as one of the final 30 people who would be playing for the R1 million.
Marais said she was in shock when she received the call because she couldn’t imagine that she would be selected.
“The last few years have not been the best times of my life but we’ve learnt to cope with everything. I took my last money this morning to throw petrol in my car to go to the studio,” said Marais.
Marais, 34, is an administration manager from Kraaifontein and the single mother of a 14-month-old boy.
The final round of the competition involved a spinning wheel. The wheel spun and spun until it finally landed on blue, making Marais the final winner of the competition.
Marais says the first thing she’ll be doing is moving into a bigger place because her current living situation doesn’t allow her son to play outside. Other plans include investing her money, paying off debt and keeping the money safe for her son to have a good education.
“I don’t even know if someone has the right words to describe the type of love, calmness and blessings that have been pouring over me. I expected this to be a crazy day but actually it’s fine.
“I’m spending some time with friends and every time I catch myself, I walk out to the car just to go look at the cheque again because I can’t believe it,” she said.
“I think because we really needed it, there’s a gratefulness and a blessing that I can’t describe to anyone else. It’s a one in a million feeling that you have,” she said.
As part of the competition, Lotto Star also donated R1 million to NGO Gift of the Givers in the build-up to the final event.
She tearfully thanked Kfm 94.5 and LottoStar for turning her year around and for helping her create a brighter future for my son.
Stephen Werner, Kfm 94.5 Station Manager said: “Over the past three weeks we've had so many worthy winners on-air, sharing unbelievable stories of what a difference the money will make in their lives.
“But it's not just about making millionaires and giving away cash. We are also strong supporters of community outreach which is why the campaign supports the fantastic work done by Gift of the Givers.”
LottoStar’s Maria Pavli added that the “Your Month of Millions'' give away was the Western Cape’s biggest cash prize during one single radio show.
“We’re happy to have partnered with our radio friends, Kfm 94.5 to change and touch people’s lives. A big thank you to the Kfm 94.5 listeners who participated and played their part in raising R1 million for Gift of the Givers which will go towards supporting food security, healthcare and childcare in the Western Cape,” Pavli said.