Patricia de Lille to Scrap R900m Tottenham Hotspur Deal, Claims Proposed Sponsorship Is Unlawful

• Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille has put an end to the controversial R900 million proposed sponsorship deal between SA Tourism and Tottenham Hotspur
• Minister De Lille revealed that not only was the Tottenham Hotspur deal not budgeted for, but it was also unlawful and invalid
• The tourism minister said it was unjustifiable to splurge almost R1 billion of taxpayer money in this way

PRETORIA - Newly appointed Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille has revealed that the contentious Tottenham Hotspur sponsorship deal with SA tourism has been axed.

De Lille spoke at a media briefing when she said the proposed R900 million three-year sponsorship between SA Tourism and UK-based football team Tottenham Hotspur is unlawful.

The new tourism minister explained that spending R300 million a year of taxpayers' money over a three-year period was unjustifiable.

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The controversial sponsorship was allegedly not budgeted for, which is required by Section 53 of the Public Finance management act. Additionally, it was found that the deal did not comply with Section 217 of the Constitution and the tourism board's supply chain policy, eNCA reported.

The Tottenham Hotspur proposed sponsorship stirred controversy earlier in the year when Daily Maverick blew the lid on the deal. According to De Lille, the talks on the agreement started in 2022 and SA Tourism later approved the contract in February 2023.

Regardless of SA Tourism's approval of the deal, De Lille said that the final green light would have to come from the minister in charge of the portfolio, and, as head of tourism, she would not approve it, EWN reported.

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Tottenham Hotspur deal: SA Tourism acting CFO resigned after facing possible suspension

Briefly News earlier reported that South African Tourism (SAT) confirmed that acting CFO Johan van der Walt tended his resignation on Thursday, 16 February.

His resignation came after the organisation planned to suspend him for his alleged dodgy involvement in a sponsorship deal with English Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur.

SAT board chairperson Thozamile Botha confirmed his resignation with TimesLIVE and said Van der Walt was formally instructed to provide reasons why he should not be suspended. Rather than responding, he resigned.

Source: Briefly News