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South Africa’s tourism ministry has denied experiences suggesting it deliberate to sponsor Premier League aspect Tottenham Hotspur.
Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has distanced herself from the reported R1 billion deal amid widespread outrage.
A report by Every day Maverick revealing that South Africa was planning to signal a R1 billion sponsorship bundle for Spurs triggered a wave of concern on social media in addition to from opposition political events.
Citing paperwork seen by the publication, the report claimed the federal government, by way of its advertising company SA Tourism, was getting ready a proposal to sponsor the Premier League outfit for 3 years.
Every day Maverick cited sources as informing them Sisulu was eager for the deal to sail via earlier than President Cyril Ramaphosa reshuffles the cupboard.
Plans have been that the sponsorship was set to be introduced by Ramaphosa in the course of the State of the Nation Deal with on 10 February.
The cope with Spurs was earmarked to advertise South Africa as a number one vacationer vacation spot the best way Rwanda partnered with Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain or Abu Dhabi’s sponsorship of Manchester Metropolis.
However the tourism ministry disputed the whole lot, saying Sisulu is but to be furnished by SA Tourism, with particulars in regards to the proposed sponsorship deal.
“This reported deal is only an SAT [SA Tourism] board matter on which Minister Sisulu has not been formally briefed by the board,” the tourism ministry mentioned in an announcement.
“Like some other board, the SAT board is unbiased and Minister Sisulu doesn’t intrude with its selections. Basically, the SAT proposal is to conclude a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Tottenham Hotspur Soccer Membership.”
South Africans are irked by the proposed sponsorship of Spurs, some saying it was a misplaced precedence for a rustic going through a myriad of financial and social challenges.
Opposition social gathering, the Democratic Alliance, described the plan as “lunacy” and “a slap within the face of each South African whose hard-earned tax will likely be used to sponsor a first-world soccer group”.
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