By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Johan van der Walt, SA Tourism’s acting chief financial officer, has been served with a notice of suspension.
This comes after Van der Walt was linked to an agency identified in the controversial Tottenham Hotspur sponsorship proposal that made headlines this week.
Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu raised concern that she was “seriously disturbed” that van der Walt, is still in office despite accusations against him.
Sisulu said that the SA Tourism board should implement a fully-fledged forensic investigation into the deal and possible conflicts of interest.
According to SA Tourism board chairperson Thozamile Botha, “He was given a letter to give reasons why he should not be suspended and he has not responded to that letter.
Botha said that early investigations showed that Van der Walt did not tell anyone about his conflict of interest or step away from meetings where the sponsorship deal was being discussed.
“In the general declarations, he indicated his links to those companies, but then as the details are being discussed obviously you expect him to say no, I can’t participate in this particular issue because I have vested interests,” he said.
SA Tourism proposed a three-year deal with the English Premier League side, worth £42.5 million (about R900 million), starting at the beginning of the 2023/24 season and ending at the end of the 2026/27 season.
In exchange for the whopping investment, the state-owned entity would receive kit branding, interview backdrop branding, match-day advertising, partnership announcements, training camps in South Africa, and free access to tickets and stadium hospitality.
On Saturday SA Tourism dropped its forensic investigation into who leaked the document about the planned sponsorship deal.