SME awarded lottery contract

Avocado Vision’s Juliet Newton says the company is keyed up and ready to face the challenges that lie ahead. “A contract of this size is quite a coup for a small company,” she comments.

“Bongani Khumalo, chairman of Gidani, charged us with using this lottery opportunity to build a sustainable, empowered business that we all can be proud of. That’s just what we intend to do. At last we have a vehicle that will help us make a sustainable impact as we build South Africa together”.

Says Andre Grobler, Ngikwazi’s CEO: “Having previously been intimately involved in the launch of South Africa’s first on-line National Lottery, I have some first-hand experience of just how big this challenge is.

“However, by being given the opportunity to attract the best people available in this country for this task, we have been able to assemble a group of highly committed people who are able to do what is necessary to deliver on the commitments. We see the contract as an opportunity to be part of a life changing experience.”

Once retailers have been accredited, Ngikwazi (Zulu for “I am able”), will provide ongoing support to retailers, thereby developing and empowering people in line with the lottery’s core vision.

Grobler concludes: “We have incorporated a unique business model that employs a number of highly skilled permanent staff as well as a large flexible field-force of people who work close to home. This will provide sustainable employment to a great number of people who are able to speak the local dialect, who are familiar with local customs and can earn a sustainable living without having to secure a ‘formal’ job.

“I believe that this has the potential to change the way many companies do business and can take sustainable employment to a new level not before experienced in South Africa.”