DA to refer Royal AM R16 million sponsorship from eThekwini to the Auditor General and live “pitch-side payments” to SARS

5 October 2021

The DA in KwaZulu - Natal will write to the Auditor General over the recently approved R16 million “sponsorship” for serial tenderpreneur, Shawn Mkhize’s football team Royal AM.

Royal AM is effectively a brand new football team in the PSL after Mkhize bought Bloemfontein Celtic for R50 million to regain entry into the league after a protracted legal dispute which saw the first incarnation of the club not qualify for promotion.

The R16 million “sponsorship” by the municipality is far in excess of any other established eThekwini club in the PSL and reeks of wasteful expenditure when so many people in the city have no access to housing, sanitation and electricity.

It also begs the question as to why so much money is spent on one football club when we could be spending this money on development football in the city?

The DA will also refer Mkhize’s on-air antics this weekend after beating Maritzburg United, when her and her son were filmed dishing out wads of money to her players from large envelopes to the South African Revenue Service. The simple question is, was this money declared to SARS by her and the players?

The cold facts are that Mkhize is hardly short of money. She is a billionaire who recently bought a R16 million Rolls Royce for herself and she was able to stump up R50 million to buy the reincarnated version of Royal AM. She doesn't need this money from eThekwini and should publicly reject the sponsorship in favour of football development in the city.

eThekwini residents should be not be burdened with indulging Mkhize’s fantasy league ambitions at the expense of the next generation of football stars.

Issued by Dean Macpherson, DA KZN Chairperson, 5 October 2021