Faced with financial challenges, Thuli Mhlanga (46) tried to borrow money from shylocks to boost her Mobile Money business funds, with no success. On the verge of giving up, she won E1, 000 through MTN Smagamaga weekly promotion.
Mhlanga, a Mobile Money Vendor from Msunduza in Mbabane, is part of the 40 customers that have won one of many E1 000 weekly prizes from the MTN Smagamaga promotion since its inception to date.
She started her business in 2018 and it has steadily grown until the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic last year. Thereafter, she said her funds have been gradually decreasing due to the record decline of customers because of the effects of the ongoing health crisis.
“In this overwhelming time of crisis, I found myself in a difficult position and my only option at that point was to get a loan from micro lenders. I desperately needed working capital to keep my business afloat. While I was worried about prohibitive interest charges, simultaneously, I needed to save my businesses. Nonetheless, I believe that God sent MTN to save me from my difficulty and gave me money that I do not need to repay. For this, I am grateful to both God and MTN Eswatini as an agent of God,” she said. Mhlanga said she joined the promotion just to try her luck, as she had never won anything before.
“I did not expect to win anything from the promotion. That is why I was surprised to hear that I had won E1 000,” she said.
“I thank MTN for saving me,” she further stated.
The E1 000 weekly cash prize also helped Nitho Mamba (34), a prophet from Nsangwini, who joined the promotion out of curiosity after receiving an SMS from MTN.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has hit us hard. I was left with literally nothing after using all the money I had when children went back to school. We desperately needed cash for groceries and that is why I was hoping to win from day one after entering the competition,” he said.
He has four dependents, his wife, and three children.
“When I received the call informing me that I have won, I had E10 only in my pocket. That was the last money I had with me. However, I trusted God that he will never desert me, and he did not,” he said.
Mamba said he would use the money to buy groceries for his family.
“My wish was to win so that I can be able to buy groceries and I will do just that,” said Mamba.
The E1 000 weekly prize was a bonus for Eswatini College of Technology (ECOT) second-year Mechanical Engineering student, Phumlani Nxumalo (25) from Ndlalambi. His money came in just after receiving his study allowance.
Nxumalo said he would use it to do something nice for his parents who are both unemployed but have been doing everything they could to ensure that he gets everything he needs.
“I want to show them how much I appreciate everything they have done for me,” he said.
Nxumalo said he also enjoyed answering the daily quizzes and they have helped him to learn many new things he did not know even about the country.
“I thank MTN for this initiative. I hope more people will benefit from it,” he said.
Through this promotion, MTN is giving back to customers prizes worth up to E100 000 to enable them to #DoTheMost.
The company is giving away daily food vouchers worth E250 to three customers and 1GB of data to 10 customers; E1 000 weekly MoMo cash prizes; E5 000 monthly MoMo cash prizes and a whopping E100 000 grand prize!
To win a share of these prizes, all that customers are expected to do is, SMS join to 7080 at 99 cents per day and answer daily questions to earn points.