By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Tourism minister Patricia De Lille says SA Tourism’s proposed R1 billion sponsorship with English Football team Tottenham Hotspur (Spurs) should be stopped completely.
“Given the circumstances we find ourselves in economically, we have to be much more careful and give consideration to everything that we do as government. Money must be spent wisely and prudently at all times as we are entrusted with public funds,” she said in a media briefing on Friday.
The deal with the United Kingdom (UK)-based team was ferociously met with anger and backlash after details on the matter emerged almost two months ago, prompting three SA Tourism board members to resign.
During the briefing, De Lille said legal opinion revealed that the deal was unlawful and invalid because it did not comply with the Constitution, the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and SA Tourism’s own supply chain management policy.
It appears that the sponsorship is a service which was proposed to be acquired by procurement through sole source. Sole source procurement is, however, only allowed where there is no competition in the market and only one supplier is able to provide the goods or services, which does not appear to be the case here,” she said.
She also indicated that the deal has not been budgeted for and expenditure in that regard would be irregular.
“That the deal amounts to a significant partnership transaction which required my prior approval,” the minister added.
De Lille, therefore, “advised” the SA Tourism board that the deal “may as well be stopped completely”.
“This matter has been marred by a lot of controversy and has raised many questions and we need to resolve this matter decisively and in the best interest of the people of South Africa as soon as possible.”
She said she understood that no deal has been signed.
The minister further told reporters that she has not received a full break down on how much has been spent on the deal so far.
SA Tourism previously said that the Premier League team’s global fan base could help meet a target to treble the nation’s visitor numbers to 21 million by 2030.
The deal was meant to mirror what other African countries have done, with Rwanda sponsoring Arsenal and Mauritius having a deal with Liverpool.