30 August 2023:
A 53-year old Pietermaritzburg housewife, became South African’s newest millionaire when she scooped the whopping million-rand cash first prize in the Goldrush Millions inaugural Grand Finale on Saturday.
Nirvana Moodley was called up by celebrity hosts Barry Hilton and Loyiso Bala after she was chosen ahead of 36 other branch qualifiers during the final “Spin the Wheel” stage of the promotion.
Moodley, who shares a home with her machinist husband, Selvan in Northdale, Pietermaritzburg said she completely surprised at being called up.
“To be honest, I didn’t even look at the spinning of the wheel.
“Pietermaritzburg had missed on the first four prizes (R100 000, R75 000, R50 000 and R25 000) and I thought our luck had run out.
“I was walking to the cash desk when a waitress approached me and started screaming hey you’re a millionaire.
“I was totally shocked. In fact it still hasn’t sunk in,” said Moodley, who was interviewed in between her housework.
“To be honest, I haven’t won anything significant in the past and I would therefore like to thank my husband, Goldrush and God almighty for this wonderful gift.
“My message to everyone is, if you pray hard enough, your prayers will always be answered,” she said.
Goldrush CEO Mergan Naidoo congratulated Moodley and reminded the public that this was the first of six millionaires his company would be creating monthly over the next six months.
“Special thanks to our celebrities, Barry Hilton and Loyiso Bala for adding to the razzmatazz of the event.
“The promo created a wonderful vibe across our branches from Rustenburg in the north all way to Jeffreys Bay in the south.
“Staff and clients were glued to the monitors as we linked to Loyiso and Barry. It was very exciting as any of 37 branch finalists could have walked away with the big prize.”
Goldrush Bingo MDs Greg Sutherland and Kathleho Thejane confirmed this promo was unique and a monumental effort.
“We literally had to manage this draw remotely. It is probably the first satellite promotion of this nature in South Africa.
“We had a few minor glitches but overall it was brilliant. Congrats to Mrs Moodley and all our teams around the country.”
Other branch winners on the night were: R100 000 (Phalaborwa), R75 000 (Dwarsloop), R50 000 (Mthatha) and R25 000 (Cresta).
The next phase of Goldrush Millions starts in September with weekly qualifying tournaments taking place every Friday at 2pm and 8pm in every branch.
Winners from each of these branches acquire Golden Tickets to quality for the branch finals.
Eventually one winner per branch will qualify for the Grand Finale which take place at 9.30pm on Saturday September 30.
For more information contact Kgothatso Mashile on 082 894 9670 or go to www.goldrush.co.za