Nine lucky letters make a dream come true

Winning a million rand is something of which most people only dream. For 23-year-old John* (not his real name), the dream came true when he became the second person to win the Vodacom Yebo Millionaires R1 million prize. It`s a dream that is going to change his life and those of the two women most important to him - his mother and girlfriend.

John`s lucky day came when his choice of nine numbers entered for the Yebo Millionaires Game Show matched those that appeared on the screen during the show`s broadcast on Tuesday, 30 May.

When he recovered from his surprise, his first two acts were to set about buying his mother a house, and to propose to his girlfriend. Lobola, he says, is on its way for the hand of the prettiest girl in his life.

But his excitement in providing a house for his mum and being able to marry his girlfriend comes with his own serious ambition to study to become an electrician. And, ever the man with an eye on the future, some of the prize money is being invested to cater for his child`s education.

"Vodacom has put a smile on my face and made all the difference in my life and the lives of those I love. When I started participating in the competition in November last year, I did so just for fun; little did I know that I would be the lucky winner," he says.

Speaking at a press conference in Midrand in which John was presented with a symbolic cheque for R1 million, Vodacom South Africa`s Managing Director, Shameel Joosub, said: "Yebo Millionaires is Vodacom`s way of simply saying `thank you` to the 20 million people who have said Yebo to Vodacom by becoming our customers. Through this game show, we are delighted to have played a part in helping to make real the dreams of John and the nearly 300 000 other customers who have won prizes on Yebo Millionaires."

Yebo Millionaires is a game show for Vodacom customers screened every Tuesday evening on SABC 1, shortly before 6.30pm. Every week, Vodacom gives all its customers two free SMSes with which to enter the show, and stand a chance to win up to R1 million. Two people, Puleng and John, have won the R1 million grand prize since the show began. Five others have each won R500 000, while nearly 300 000 customers have won prizes of cash, airtime recharge vouchers and Motorola V3 Razr cellphones. There is also a monthly draw for a Ford Fiesta.

It`s easy and simple to enter Yebo Millionaires. Nine lucky letters are sent via SMS to 32082. Letters can be repeated, and the order in which they appear is irrelevant. If it`s the first time that a customer is entering the show, he or she will be asked to answer a simple question by return SMS. This question must be answered correctly to enable the entrant to play the game. There is no limit to the number of entries. After the first two free SMSes have been used, a premium rate of R1 is charged for each subsequent SMS used to enter.

A qualifying question is then asked. Once this has been correctly answered, the customer receives a confirmation SMS with the nine letters as well as a reference number and the draw date for which the entry is valid is received. The confirmation SMS must be retained as proof of entry.

On Tuesday of every week, independent auditors randomly select the winning nine letters. These are revealed during the Game Show on Tuesday evening shortly before 6.30pm. If an entrant`s letters match the nine up on the screen, he or she will be our next R1 million winner! If any other customers have chosen the same nine letters, the prize is divided up equally between them. An eight-letter match wins R200 000, while a seven-letter match gives the winner a R29 recharge voucher. Vodacom also gives away 10 Motorola V3 Razr cellphones during the weekly lucky draw.

It`s not only individual customers who win with Yebo Millionaires, however. The communities from which they come also benefit from this show. Vodacom donates computer centres to two public schools every month, thereby helping to uplift education for the people of the areas in which the schools are situated. Anyone can nominate a school to receive a computer: they simply call 082-243-2082 and give details to the agent. An application form is faxed to the headmaster of the school, who must complete and return it to qualify for the lucky draw.

* Vodacom requests that the media do not reveal John`s real name, in order to protect his identity.