Shoppers pack Princess Crossing hoping to win a bakkie

Cold and wet weather could not dampen the hopes of shoppers dreaming of winning themselves a brand new Toyota Hilux as Pick n Pay Princess Crossing held their annual car giveaway draw on Saturday, 7 December.

The early arrivals huddled themselves along the walkways of Princess Crossing while those who got there later needed umbrellas to avoid the driving rain. Musical and dance acts kept the spirits high as the shivering crowd waited for the main event. The amount of till slips from entrants who had purchased R500 or more worth of groceries, not including account or municipal payments, was so large a netted trampoline was needed.

An energetic security guard was the first to shuffle the pile before he was replaced by a few excited children. A mad wrestle in the trampoline pit produced the first name out of the makeshift hat. A name and phone number of an entrant were called but they were nowhere to be found. This happened six more times until eventually the eighth name called, belonged to a man in the crowd.

The dramatic wait was not over though, as the man had no identification on him to claim his prize. After a frantic dash to his car the man, identified as Sidwell Thlola, became the new owner of the Toyota Hilux bakkie. A ravenous crowd hung around hoping for a disqualifying technicality but in the end they went home cold, wet and empty-handed while Sidwell roared into the proverbial sunset in his new Hilux.