Johannesburg (IT News Africa) — THE needy in South are set to receive a major boost after organizers of the Telkom Charity Cup today said they had a positive balance to distribute among charities from the money accrued from voter lines.
“Over one million votes were received over the four-week period that the vote line operated, making a healthy balance available for the charity trust coffers and for eventual distribution to needy causes. We must now encourage the fans who contribute the largest amount to the charity trust, to get their tickets and make sure the event is once again a sell-out,” said Mr Leepile Taunyane, the Life President of the PSL and Chairman of the NSL / Telkom Charity Trust.
“Fans must act swiftly and buy their tickets for this event. Remember, apart from the primary function of this event, namely to help promote and restore the socio economic well being of disadvantaged persons in South Africa, this is also the day in the SA soccer calendar where dazzling football and excellent quality entertainment ensures an entire day of non-stop action for the fans” urged Nakedi Chiloane, Sponsorship and Presence Marketing for Telkom SA.
The Telkom Charity Cup vote line gave the public an opportunity to participate in the event in a significant way, by dictating which teams should be the contenders in the popular PSL season opener.
The voting followed the more or less the same pattern as the 2008 event with AmaZulu FC garnering overwhelming support in their home province, and the usual contenders Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns fan base ensuring that the 3 big teams are represented in the voting stakes.
After the announcement on 17 July that the venue will change from Coca-Cola Park to the Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Platinum Stars put in a formidable charge form behind, showing that they have tremendous support in the Royal Bafokeng area.
The Telkom Charity Cup utilised the services of Foneworx to manage and operate the vote line systems. The vote system gave a true reflection of the public’s favourite teams that they want to see playing on the 1st August 2009 in Phokeng. The NSL / Telkom Charity Trust received assurances from the auditors, Deloitte & Touche that the methodologies, counting procedures and databases utilized by Foneworx have been approved and certified as being true and correct.
Only votes cast from Telkom lines and SMS’s were accepted as the revenue generated via these methods ensures that a larger amount of money is available for eventual distribution to worthy charities.
The vote line numbers were advertised in the print and electronic media from the 2nd July 2009, to give as many people as possible the opportunity to vote. In addition to this, the vote line results were posted on a web page that enabled teams, media and soccer fans to keep track of their favourite team’s progress. The web page proved to be extremely popular with almost three thousand visits received from far and wide.
“We certainly looking forward to another excellent day of top class football,” expressed PSL CEO, Kjetil Siem.
“We moving into the most important season in PSL history and there’s no better way to get the season off to the perfect start, than with the Telkom Charity Cup,” Siem added.
Voting continued until midnight on 26th July 2009, and final auditing was done on Monday the 27th July at Foneworx. The tournament is sponsored by Telkom, Africa’s biggest landline services provider.
Meanwhile, sworn rivals Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates will battle it out in the semifinals while Platinum Stars and superrich Mamelodi Sundowns will play in the other semifinal.
By Mpendulo Ngwenya
