Select Page

Peasant farmer walks away with fortune

Pottie de Bruyn, Coca Cola’s Country Sales and Marketing Manager, Winner of N$500,000 Meme Tuhafeni Absalom and her sister Elizabeth Akubia together with Suprian Kamotho, Coca Cola’s Senior Operations Marketing Manager for Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland during the handover of the prize cheque. (Photograph by Hilma Hashange)

Pottie de Bruyn, Coca Cola’s Country Sales and Marketing Manager, Winner of N$500,000 Meme Tuhafeni Absalom and her sister Elizabeth Akubia together with Suprian Kamotho, Coca Cola’s Senior Operations Marketing Manager for Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland during the handover of the prize cheque. (Photograph by Hilma Hashange)

Meme Tuhafeni Absalom from Okalongo in the Omusati region is N$500,000 richer after her name was drawn as the lucky winner from amongst 120 entries in the Half a Million category of Coca Cola’s “One Million Reasons to Believe in Namibia” competition.
The competition, which was launched early January 2013 and ran until 06 April 2013, rewarded Namibian consumers with prize money totaling N$1 million where consumers could walk away with either N$10,000, N$15,000 or N$20,000 in cash on a weekly basis.
Sixty year old widow Meme Tuhafeni, a peasant farmer who depends on her meager pension to take care of her grand children, was overjoyed with her prize money and said she was shocked to receive a call from her daughter informing her that she had won. Speaking through an interpreter, Meme Tuhafeni said her daughter who lives in Arandis had informed her that she was expected in Windhoek to collect her prize. “My daughter was the one who had entered the competition in my name, I am still in awe as I had never taken part in any competition before, let alone win a prize. I thank the Almighty for such a great gesture and of course my gratitude to Coca Cola for giving this money,” said a visibly euphoric Meme Tuhafeni. She said she is still indecisive on what to use the money for as she is still in a state of disbelief.
According to Pottie de Bruyn, Coca Cola’s Country Sales and Marketing Manager, more than two million entries where received for the competition, making it the biggest competition ever held by Coca Cola in the country.”We have received entries from as far as Oshikango to Aussenker, which just proves that Coca Cola is a product loved and favoured by all and sundry across the country,” de Bruyn highlighted.
He said the competition started with the aim of giving back to the community as the company places a premium value on support by Namibians as a business, as the consumers are the reason for the company’s success. “Since 2010, when we launched our “Open Summahh” promotion, many lives have been impacted as the winners invested their winnings and were able to start small businesses whilst others bought cattle and also managed to pay off their children’s school fees” said de Bruyn. According to Suprian Kamotho, Coca Cola’s Senior Operations Marketing Manager for Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland, the impact that competitions like “One Million Reasons to Believe In Namibia” have on people’s lives and their communities, is one of the ways that the company measures its success and commitment in providing quality and reliable services to its consumers.

About The Author