STATEMENT: DEPARTMENT OF SPORT AND RECREATION SA DID NOT PAY FOR MAYWEATHER’S 2014 VISIT TO SOUTH AFRICA

The Ministry of Sport and Recreation SA has noted the Democratic Alliance (DA) statement that alleges Minister Fikile Mbalula misled Parliament on Mr Floyd Mayweather visit to South Africa in 2014.

The Ministry did not imagine that the Democratic Alliance would stoop so low by deliberately misquoting a reply in order to extrapolate and manufacture an impression thus creating malicious falsehoods. We are now fully convinced that the DA will stop at nothing in its dirty campaign to besmirch the good name of the department and cast an aspersion on its integrity. Let the forces of darkness who forage in secret venues around the country plotting the demise of the democratic government be unmasked and exposed for what they are. We are not intimidated nor threatened by their unfounded allegations and venom they continue to spit against the democratic state.

It is apparent that Mr. Adrian Basson the Editor of Beeld newspaper and the DA are in a desperate collaboration and constitute bedfellows of nefarious intents. Both the Beeld Editor and the DA have continued to make wild unsubstantiated allegations that the Minister used tax-payer’s money on his trip to Las Vegas and that the Department covered the cost of Mayweather’s travel to South Africa on his SA 2014 tour.

This was followed by Mr. Basson’s use of the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 to access documents from the department in the hope of proving illegality. These attempts failed to prove that the Minister used tax-payer’s money to travel to Las Vegas and that Floyd Mayweather’s visit to South Africa was paid for by the Department. But statements by the DA made to the mainstream media of our country as well as reports by Beeld (including their entire Media 24 stable) have done nothing to correct this, instead they paddle more inaccuracies.

Today’s statement by the DA indicates beyond the shadow of doubt that there is deep collaboration between Mr. Adrian Basson and the DA. This axis can only confirm our held views that the DA has a stranglehold on some media establishments. We have complied with all Parliamentary processes and answered all media enquiries on this matter.

There is no interest in the truth and it has been shunned and consistently rejected. We have answered all questions related to Floyd Mayweather’s visit to South Africa. Their failure to appreciate these answers signals poor unethical journalism and political immaturity on the part of the DA. It is now clear to Minister Fikile Mbalula that this preoccupation of Mr. Adriaan Basson and the DA is nothing but a political witch hunt.

At no point did Minister Fikile Mbalula mislead Parliament. All Parliamentary Questions by the DA and other parties have been answered truthfully and to the best of our knowledge and abilities based on records at our disposal within the Department. We stand by all we have said in the parliamentary replies to questions asked and welcome the DA’s intent to call upon the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation to probe this matter. In fact we will give our due support to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee to prioritise this matter and give it preference on the first sitting of the Committee in the new session of Parliament when it resumes. We wish the media is present at the meeting as we seek to understand what the unfounded allegations that we mislead Parliament is based on.

We wish to state it on record that the purported amounts (R475 950.00) we have allegedly failed to disclose to Parliament have actually been disclosed in full. We stand by all we said before and indicates that we have not paid for Mr. Floyd Mayweather’s visit to the Soweto Dube Boxing Gym and to Emperors Palace for the gala dinner. We further re-state that the Department has not paid for the travel, accommodation and appearance fees. We are ready and eagerly awaiting the opportunity in Parliament to ventilate further on this matter and to set the record straight.

Statement issued by Esethu Hasane, Media and Liaison Officer – Ministry, Department of Sport and Recreation South Africa, 14 January 2016