SOUTH African Tourism (SAT) has defended its proposed R1 billion sponsorship of English Premier League club, Tottenham Hotspur.
In a media briefing on Thursday, 2 February, SAT acting CEO, Themba Khumalo, said they have not signed a contract yet, but intend to.
He said the money that is invested in tourism is not the same money that’s required for energy.
“It’s not the same amount of money that’s required for potholes,” he said.
SAT has come under fire following a report by the Daily Maverick on Wednesday, 1 February that it had documents that showed SAT is preparing a sponsorship deal with the English Premier League team.
They reported that SAT has proposed plans for a three-year deal worth £42,5 million (about R900 million) starting at the beginning of the 2023/24 English Premier League season and ending at the end of the 2026/27 season.
Khumalo said this is not about football, and not about them supporting this team or the other team.
He said they are accessing the audience in the British premier league so they can persuade them to travel to South Africa to spend pounds, Euros, dollar, and Yen in the country so to bring back dignity for the people.
“This deal is not isolation with other deals that we have in place because it’s not about football, it’s about audiences.”
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Khumalo said sport and entertainment are audience aggregators, so people will pay money to access their product.
He said the money that is invested in tourism isn’t money that’s required for other needs in the country.
“There are departments that are dedicated to that and ours is to spend money to persuade travellers to come to South Africa to spend money. That is what we’re legislated to do,” he said.
Meanwhile, DA shadow minister of tourism, Manny de Freitas, said the sponsorship was a slap in the face of every South African whose hard-earned tax will be used to sponsor a first-world football team.
Freitas said it is also an insult for the South African tourism and travel sector, which was decimated and in many cases completely destroyed during and post Covid.
“A delegation from DA Abroad will this week go to the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club in London to ascertain exactly what the status of this deal is, and if any money has exchanged hands. The DA will do everything in our power to oppose this lunacy,” she said.
