MANDLA WINS THE MILLION

Johannesburg – Big Brother Mzansi (BBM) fans had their say on Sunday night as they chose spaza shop owner Mandla Hlatshwayo as the winner of this year’s Big Brother Mzansi and of course, the tasty R1 million grand prize. The 63 day-long season of the reality super series drew to a stunning close with a highly emotional two-hour finale that had people biting their nails in anticipation. Big Brother went all out to ensure that when the curtain came down, it did so sensationally! The BBM runner-up Iris walked away with R150 000.

“You have been one of the most humble housemates on Big Brother,” the voice of Big Brother said about Mandla.
The businessman, who has been a firm fan favourite with the majority of the viewers, controversially set viewers’ screens alight when he and fellow housemate Lexi had a dalliance in the shower on national television. Both went into the house respectively attached.

“It was very hard for me to start a relationship in the house. Lexi and I are going to have to discuss our relationship,” said the recent millionaire upon being questioned about the affair.

“Had I been stronger, I would have stayed in the house with the intention of trying to fix things with my girlfriend. The more time you have to yourself, you get to reflect on things that have happened before and how things were when you left. We’d broken up before and gotten back together. It just so happens that it occurred just before I entered the Big Brother house.”

When probed further about his relationship with Lexi, he divulged that a coffee date is on the horizon to determine if there was a future for them.
Mandla, however, has no regrets and no immediate plans with regards to his future. One certainty in his life right now is his child’s future and how secure it will be thanks to his stint in the Big Brother Mzansi house.

“When I auditioned for Big Brother I had just given birth to my daughter, so being away from her for so long was a huge sacrifice for me.
“But whenever I felt like I wanted to give up, I would think about her and feel inspired to carry on,” she said.
Mandla surprised his entire family when he appeared on the reality show.

“I told my mother I was leaving to go look for a job,” he says with a laugh.
Interestingly, Mandla’s spaza shop in Sebokeng is called BBM Spaza, which got his fans wondering whether he had changed the shop’s name to score brownie points with the producers of Big Brother.

“It’s such a funny coincidence. I opened the spaza shop three years ago, and the initials stand for my second name which is Bobo, and the names of my two sisters – Bouquet and Memsi.”