BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE – A police officer who has been transporting people to and fro the airport for 15 years only boarded a plane for the first time on FRIDAY.
This was courtesy of MTN, Mbonisi Ndlangamandla based in Nhlangano said his closest encounter with a plane was when he saw it take off and land while the person he was accompanying or fetching was on board.
Last Friday he was on board Eswatini Air on a trip to Johannesburg to do shopping worth E4 000, thanks to MTN Eswatini.
“All I did was play the MTN Bonanza quiz game on 7080. I have been playing this game for three months now and this is my first win,” he said.
The 57-year-old also won himself a E4 000 shopping voucher which he will spend during the eight hours that he will spend in Johannesburg.
He tagged along his former supervisor and mentor Joseph Mkhabela whom he said took care of him when he joined the police force in his youthful years.
The second winner of a flight ticket for two is Thabiso Mavimbela who travelled with his wife Nonsikelelo Vilakati on what he described as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“We are both flying for the first time today. The only time I stepped inside a plane was during a school trip when we were shown the interior of a parked plane at the Matsapha International Airport.” he said.
Mavimbela works at Tibiyo while his wife works for Matsapha Pick n Pay.
He sent a message of appreciation to MTN for what he said would be an unforgettable memory for him and his family.
Even though he was a regular player in the quiz game, this was the first time that he won.
His equally excited wife said she was happy that MTN was thoughtful enough to accommodate a partner in the prize.
Upon landing at OR Tambo airport the four rode a Gautrain to Rose bank where they started their shopping and visited some hotels.
They then took a tour bus and went to places including the late Nelson Mandela’s house, Hector Peterson monument, the museum and Vilakazi Street.
The two winners and their partners landed back at Sikhuphe around 9pm.
They both encouraged emaSwati to participate in the Bonanza game so that they could have a similar experience.
First-time participants can enrol by sending ‘JOIN’ to 7080 while existing participants can send ‘MORE’ to 7080 to ask for more questions.
Upon joining a person gets a set of questions to answer at E0.99 per day.
The game comes with daily prizes of 100MB for 50 winners; weekly prizes of two flight tickets with E4 000 vouchers; two weekly prizes of E1500 grocery vouchers and a monthly prize of E20 000.
Meanwhile upon their return they said:
Thabiso Mavimbela
“The trip was so great that I wish we had slept over just for one night. I will never stop playing this game because I want to travel again and win the grand prize.”
Mbonisi Ndlangamandla
“This was a great day for me. We had good company and went to almost all our places of interest. I enjoyed taking pictures from there and I treasure them so much.”
Nontsikelelo Vilakati
“It was nice. We travelled and dined. It was also great to set foot at historic places. I am now making it my responsibility to encourage people to play Bonanza because I have evidence it is for real.”
Joseph Mkhabela
“We had the best trip ever. The flight was smooth and we had enough time to visit places. We just went up and down Johannesburg and we really enjoyed it.”
