Nthabiseng admits she almost talked herself out of entering The South African’s survey altogether. “I don’t really want a lot of competition,” she said, explaining her hesitation before deciding to try anyway after seeing other winners featured in past articles. When the confirmation email landed in her inbox, the shock was instant.
“It really was the best feeling I was just ecstatic,” she said. “It was just the best moment ever.”
The timing was everything
For Nthabiseng, the R2000 arrived at a moment she describes as nothing short of divine. Her birthday falls on 17 September, and the payout landed just days before it. She was also facing her son’s graduation in December; an expense she wasn’t sure she could cover on her SASSA child grant alone.
“I was actually able to pay for my son’s graduation which is going to be in December which was just a huge relief for me,” she said. “That’s literally just God giving me this gift.”
Stretching every cent
Nthabiseng was candid about how tight her monthly budget already is before the win, juggling food, electricity, clothing and school supplies on a single grant, with two siblings stepping in to help ease the load. The survey prize gave her breathing room she hadn’t had in months.
“It really helped me stretch out and buy most of the essentials that I needed for myself and my kids,” she said, adding that she’d been sceptical of online competitions before this. “It blew me away literally; it blew me away.”
Her advice to other SASSA grant recipients weighing whether to enter future surveys: It costs nothing to try.
“It’s not actually costing me anything to actually just do it,” she said.
Win R2 000 in the South African SASSA grant survey
If you receive a SASSA grant and want to share your story, we want to hear from you.
Take part in our survey and stand a chance to win R2 000. Your responses help us tell the stories that matter
