South Africa: Public Concern Builds As Lindiwe Sisulu Confirms Spurs Deal Is On the Table - but Denies Championing It

DIRCO/Jacoline Schoonees
Lindiwe Sisulu (file photo).
1 February 2023
Daily Maverick (Johannesburg)
analysis By Rebecca Davis

Following Daily Maverick's reporting on SA Tourism's plan to spend nearly R1-billion sponsoring Tottenham Hotspur, the Minister of Tourism has confirmed that a proposal is on the table. A statement angrily denied that Lindiwe Sisulu herself had any personal interest in the deal. Meanwhile, public concern over the expenditure is building.

In a statement released by tourism minister Lindiwe Sisulu on Wednesday morning, Sisulu termed the controversial R1-billion proposal to sponsor Tottenham Hotspur a "memorandum of understanding" between Spurs and SA Tourism.

Sisulu claimed that the proposal is "non-binding".

This conflicts with the impression given by the documents in the possession of Daily Maverick, which give clear timelines for the deal -- including an upfront fee payable by 31 March 2023.

A Powerpoint presentation in the name of acting SA Tourism CEO Themba Khumalo states that "all deliverables associated with this project" must be completed by the end of March in order to ensure "a valid expense against savings identified in the current year budget (rather than possibly returning it to National Treasury)".

It states that the deal will be "100% activated on 1 July 2023".

At no point in the two presentations seen by Daily Maverick is the plan...

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