M-Net has always been transparent about the Idols voting process and statistics and it is important for the company to ensure that their viewers and Idols voters know how the decision to have two Idols Season V winners was made. A press conference was held on Friday, 8 May announcing the outcome of the SMS investigation - and in subsequent radio and newspaper interviews - M-Net shared the following facts, which we believe should also be readily available to our viewers and website community:

• Voting to determine the Idols winner opened at the end of the Idols Results Show on Monday, 27 April at 19:30 and closed on Sunday, 3 May at 18:05, during the live Idols final.

• The financial services firm, Alexander Forbes, verified the results by 18:15 and the winner announcement was made at 19:00. The results were determined by all the votes that M-Net and Alexander Forbes had received by 18:05 and Sasha Lee was named the winner.

• There was no negligence on the part of Alexander Forbes, as they verified the number of votes that had been received at the cut-off time.

• Votes reached M-Net and Alexander Forbes through the normal delivery route. The cell phone user sent the SMS by using a cell phone provider (Vodacom, MTN or Cell C). From there the votes traveled to the Wireless Application Service Provider (WASP) and from there, to M-Net. Thereafter Alexander Forbes verified the results for the presenter to make the announcement.

• On Monday 4 May, the regular post-show analysis of statistics began at M-Net, revealing that there were hundreds of thousands of late votes. Normally, the post show analysis will show some late votes, but these are usually small in number and are automatically disqualified. Due to the sheer numbers, the M-Net operator decided to look into the matter and called for more data. This data was delivered to M-Net on Tuesday 5th May by the WASP. Once the M-Net operator started analysing this data she realised something was wrong.

• M-Net management was alerted to a possible problem on Wednesday, 6 May. KPMG, an independent firm of auditors was immediately called in to conduct an investigation, and if necessary, a recount.

• The three cell phone mobile operators, as well as Grapevine Interactive (the WASP), offered their full co-operation and by 14:00 on Thursday, 7 May, KPMG had received all the raw data from these parties.

• At that time, five KPMG data specialists began to analyse the data. They looked at all SMS votes sent from the time that the voting lines opened until 18:05 on Sunday night. It was very important for M-Net to tally all the votes SENT before the cut-off time, even if received later, as these were valid votes. Any votes sent after the cut-off time were automatically disqualified, as is the usual practice.

• M-Net informed the two finalists, as well as their families, that inconsistent SMS data was being investigated and a media release was issued about the matter.

• By 22:00 on Thursday, 7 May, KPMG was able to verify the total number of legitimate SMS votes sent by fans before the cut-off time, as well as the number of SMS’s counted and verified before the winner announcement was made on Sunday night. They confirmed that Alexander Forbes had been correct with their verification.

• KPMG found that more than 600 000 SMS votes were received at the end of the delivery route, hours after the voting lines were closed, but that these votes had been sent well before the cut-off time. These votes, which were in limbo somewhere in cyberspace, could have swayed the vote. Therefore all valid votes, sent before 18:05, but received much later, were recounted.

• By 11:00 on Friday, 8 May, KMPG was able to verify the total votes as well as the number of valid SMS votes for each of the Top 2 contestants.

• After all the “lost” votes were added, it was determined that Jason had received 1.3 million votes and Sasha Lee, 1.1 millon votes.

• Even though there have been SMS-related glitches in some international Idols shows, this was a unique situation and M-Net consulted Fremantle Media in the UK, who hold the rights to the format.

• M-Net and Fremantle Media agreed that there were now two winners: Sasha Lee was named the winner based on the data available to M-Net when the announcement had been made, and Jason was now also a winner after receiving the most votes after the lost data was included.

• Both Sasha-Lee and Jason welcomed the decision and at the media conference, held at M-Net at 13:00 on Friday 8 May, they jointly voiced their approval and appreciation.

• M-Net also emphasised that the delivery problem pertained to SMS’s only, and that all votes cast by dialing the IVR “086” numbers from landlines and cell phone numbers were accurate.

M-Net is currently conducting a technical investigation to ascertain what went wrong. Once M-Net fully understands this, the company will put systems in place to ensure this does not happen again.

M-Net believes that the final decision was respectful to Jason, Sasha Lee, their families and fans, and M-Net trusts that the public will support both winners. Jason and Sasha Lee have been through a turbulent time and they both deserve to be treated like true Idols.