Lucky draw decides Galleria Mall’s car winner

“Absolutely amazing!” That’s how Bluff couple Layton (36) and Letoya Oliphant (33) described their elation at winning a brand-new Haval H2 after living in it with two other couples at Galleria Mall for a whopping 30 days.

All three couples survived the 30 days and a lucky draw had to be done on Monday, 25 June, which left the Fynnlands couple the fortunate winners. “We weren’t confident at all ahead of the draw – we thought it was anyone’s game,” said Letoya.

After exiting the vehicle at noon, exactly 30 days after entering it on Friday, 25 May, the couple was allowed to go home and freshen up before making their way back to Galleria for the draw. Surprisingly, Layton and Letoya were back at work on Tuesday. “We had to take leave, and unpaid leave to do the challenge. It was worth it though. When we went in, we didn’t think we could win it.”

Letoya described their first night back in their own bed as pure bliss. “That was so amazing! But when we got up, our bodies were sore, as we aren’t used to sleeping in a bed. It will take us a while to get used to it again.”

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This is the first time either Layton or Letoya have won anything significant. “Layton was in shock yesterday (Monday) but today he could talk about it.”

Another sacrifice the couple had to make was leaving their nine-year-old daughter Melody with Letoya’s parents, although she did visit them in the car. “The hardest part was living with people we didn’t know,” said Letoya. “Everyone was well behaved though. I don’t know if we will be friends with the other couples. We did exchange numbers, so we will see.”