Rethabile Pitso
QHOKO Masokela drove away from Masianokeng Service Station in Maseru with a brand new Totoya Etios on Saturday after winning a Total Lesotho (TL) competition which had been running since August.
An elated Mr Masokela, who is a taxi-owner from Matsieng, said while he had submitted numerous forms to increase his chances of winning the competition, he was still surprised after his name was called out as the winner.
“Every time I came to the Total service station to fill up my car, I would fill up a form so I would be eligible for the draw. I also encouraged my employees to do the same whenever they filled up their cars with more than M200, and I would take all the forms to submit them at the nearest filling station,” he said.
“I was taken aback when I was announced as the winner, and my family is also very excited about the vehicle. We have decided to give it to my wife since we were already planning to buy her a vehicle next month.”
According to TL Marketing Officer, Mpho Senatsi, the car was the ultimate prize in a competition in which television sets and smart phones were also given away.
“This year’s competition is one of many we have held with the aim of giving back to our valued customers who have been supporting us throughout the 32-years we have been operating in the country,” she said.
“It was our way of showing that we do not just expect them to come for a service and drive away. There are so many places they could have gone to, but they have, instead, been coming to fuel up at our service stations.”
Ms Senatsi said the majority of participants in the competition were from the taxi industry, adding that it did not come as a surprise that the winner was from the sector.
“Most entries were from taxi operators as they fill up more regularly than privately-owned vehicles,” she said.
“The competition required participants to fill up their car with fuel worth not less M200 on four occasions. Every time a car was fueled up, Total service station attendants would stamp a form which was given to the customer. Upon reaching four stamps, the form was entered into the entry box for a draw.”
Ms Senatsi said another competition was held in 2014 where six lucky winners walked away with M24 000 worth of fuel. The winners have been fueling up for free from December 2014 and will stop at the end of November 2015.
“TL Territory Manager, Letele Khalikane, also told the Lesotho Times that the petroleum company was also in the process of launching corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in partnership with various agencies.
“We have partnered with the Road Fund and Department of Road Safety, among others, in an awareness campaign for road safety,” he said.
“Our interest is to educate children going to schools in high road accident risk areas with safety information which would be taught by their teachers.”
Mr Khalikane said the CSR initiatives were meant to positively impact on the society the company operates in.
“We are part of the very society in which we conduct business, so we already know some of the challenges that need to be resolved,” he said.
TL has six branded service stations, three operating in Maseru, one in Butha-Buthe, one in Maputsoe and another in Mafeteng districts.
“Our footprint extends on our commercial network to such areas as Mokhotlong, Semonkong, Pitseng and Quthing as well as Nazareth and Roma. We anticipate a new addition to our branded service station network in the second quarter of 2016,” he said.
