Documents obtained by Daily Maverick show that the South African government, through its marketing agency SA Tourism, is preparing to ink a deal worth R910,997,814.75 to sponsor one of the English Premier League's best-known teams, Tottenham Hotspur.

'Executive Summary: Proposed 36-month sponsorship partnership with Tottenham Hotspur FC", reads the first slide of a PowerPoint presentation stamped with the logo of SA Tourism.

Marked "Company Confidential", this first presentation was apparently given by SA Tourism's acting CEO, Themba Khumalo, on 27 January.

Daily Maverick understands that the proposal was due to be discussed again by the SA Tourism board, via a second -- more elaborate -- presentation, also in Daily Maverick's possession, on Tuesday night.

Although Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu was slated to be at Tuesday night's SA Tourism board meeting, Daily Maverick has established that she ended up meeting Khumalo separately, ahead of the meeting.

Sisulu, through her spokesperson Mpumzi Zuzile, initially referred Daily Maverick's questions on the sponsorship proposal to SA Tourism, while SA Tourism had not responded to Daily Maverick's request for comment by publication.

Another Sisulu spokesperson, Steve Motale, subsequently asked Daily Maverick to delay publication while his team "established the facts". This article will be updated...