Cape Town - There has been outrage over a reported R1 billion deal that SA Tourism wants to sign with English Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur in the hope of attracting tourists to the country through advertising and marketing exposure.
Political leaders have railed against the proposal at a time when they feel such money could be put to better use.
A news report by the Daily Maverick claimed the Tourism Ministry and SA Tourism (SAT) were negotiating such a sponsorship with the English club.
According to the report, a deal worth R910 997 814.75 proposed for 36 months was first presented by SA Tourism’s acting CEO, Themba Khumalo, on January 27.
SA Tourism spokesperson Thandiwe Mathibela did not respond to Cape Argus queries on Wednesday.
Contacted for comment, Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said through a spokesperson that the report was “riddled with inaccuracies and untruths” aimed at tarnishing her image.
The minister’s spokesperson Steve Motale said: “Minister Sisulu is in consultation with her legal team and will communicate the way forward in due course.”
He said the report sought to drive a political agenda rather than to inform the public truthfully, and the reporter had falsely claimed Sisulu was forcing SAT to push the deal through before she was moved from the Tourism portfolio in an impending Cabinet reshuffle.
“This is a blatant lie. This reported deal is purely an SAT board matter on which Minister Sisulu has not been formally briefed by the board.”
Motale added: “Essentially, the SAT proposal is to conclude a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. It is non-binding. Such a proposal must still pass muster within the Tourism Ministry and is subject to the concurrence of National Treasury to conform to government prescripts.”
Reached for comment, Tottenham Hotspur Football and Athletic Company Ltd media spokesperson Rohan Johal said: “Unfortunately, we are unable to provide anything here as we do not comment on commercial matters.”
The DA’s tourism spokesperson Manny de Freitas said in a statement: “Our country is in a power crisis. Consumers are being crushed by inflation. There is no way the ANC will be able to condone such a decision in the 2024 election, not even among its staunchest supporters.”
He called the plan “a slap in the face of every South African whose hard-earned tax will be used to sponsor a first-world football team, and an insult for the South African tourism and travel sector which was decimated, and in many cases completely destroyed, during and post Covid-19.”
De Freitas said he would submit questions as to how the decision was arrived at and what studies were undertaken to justify it. He said the DA would also be tabling it at the next Tourism Portfolio Committee meeting.
Told about the minister’s response, he said: “What the spokesperson says is very interesting. He seems to contradict himself, because he’s talking about a memorandum of understanding. Well, exactly what is this MoU?”
GOOD Party MP Brett Herron said: “Providing a stable electricity supply, and managing sewerage in the country’s premier tourist cities, Cape Town and Durban, to stop the forced closure of beaches, would do more to market South Africa than paying a small fortune to print the national flag on the football shirts of Tottenham Hotspur.”
Herron said that while developing the tourism sector was important to the economy, there were too many other urgent priorities to warrant the proposed sponsorship deal and that it should be “shot down” on the same basis as that of the Department of Arts and Culture plan to fund a hugely expensive giant flag: “Unaffordable and preposterous.”
ActionSA president Herman Mashaba said: “At a time when South Africa is facing an unprecedented energy crisis and rampant crime, scarce state resources should be used to address the most pressing needs in the nation.”
He said South African sports teams and athletes continue to have to beg for money and seek sponsorships when they aim to represent the country overseas.