Former PE man's prize of lifetime

Lee-Anne Butler

FOR former Port Elizabeth internal auditor Mohamed Kajee, winning TV magazine programme Top Billing's Dream Home grand prize of a R5-million flat is a dream come true and a well- timed blessing as he and his wife were already in the process of moving to Cape Town where the luxury home is situated.

Kajee, who left Port Elizabeth in 2004 to work in Johannesburg, was in the process of moving to Cape Town for work when he first entered the competition.

Although he is now living there he can only move into the furnished De Waterkant flat when he returns from business abroad.

"When we were planning a move to Cape Town we'd joke about what a fairytale it would be if we actually won it [the flat]," he said.

Kajee said the prize, which is one of the most expensive prizes given on a South African television show, was something life-changing for him and his wife, Saffiya.

The one bedroom apartment has a walk-in closet, panoramic views of Cape Town's harbour and Table Mountain and luxury fittings.

"It will give me the foundation to look after my wife and my family and the flexibility to do more with my life in terms of social development projects that I try to do in my spare time. It's a completely life-changing prize and the enormity is too much to comprehend sometimes. It will also give us a huge slice of the best of the good life and we'll hopefully enjoy it humbly," Kajee said.

He also won an Infiniti Cabriolet car valued at R700000, a R100000 Woolworths gift card, short term insurance on the contents of the apartment plus comprehensive insurance of the luxury car for a year courtesy of Standard Bank and internet connectivity for a year.

The young couple were still reeling with excitement after being selected the winner from 10 finalists. "Saffiya's as ecstatic as I am, but she also hasn't seen the prizes in real life yet, so I think her mind is yet to be blown some more." Dedicated fans of Top Billing, Kajee and Saffiya entered the competition together but only he was selected as a finalist.

Kajee was selected the winner after taking part in the television quiz about the show.

"I feel very blessed and fortunate to have been given the opportunity to be selected from thousands of entries for the top 10. The scale of this prize is so massive that nobody deserves it and we were all very fortunate to be able to compete for it. I'm also thankful to Top Billing for revolutionising South African TV by going through with such an ambitious project."

He said the first thing he did after winning the prize was to give thanks to "all my fellow contestants".

"We had all worked hard to prepare and were a fantastic bunch of people who formed real friendships, despite the competition and the fact that there could only be one winner.

"Then I got into the car to take a spin with Top Billing presenter Bonang Matheba and almost had an accident because I couldn't find the handbrake."