TOURISM Minister Lindiwe Sisulu is expected to meet President Cyril Ramaphosa any day from now over a widely criticised multi-million pound deal with Tottenham Hotspur.
She is expected to brief the president and justify the significance of the proposal.
Her spokesman, Steve Motale, said Sisulu met the South African Tourism (SAT) board members at the weekend.
“The board fully briefed her about the deal on Saturday. The next step now is to inform the president. She’ll be meeting the president in the next few days, following which an announcement will be made,” said Motale yesterday.
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He said the minister was awaiting a response from the Presidency.
“It can take place today or tomorrow. As soon as the president has been briefed by the minister, then an announcement will be made before the State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Thursday,” said Motale.
The controversial deal was exposed by Daily Maverick last week, which reported that SAT was proposing a three-year sponsorship deal with the English Premier League club at a cost of R910 million.
According to the proposal, SAT will in turn receive kit branding, interview backdrop branding, match-day advertising, partnership announcements, training camps in South Africa, and free access to tickets and stadium hospitality.
Presidency spokesman Vincent Magwenya said Ramaphosa still had to be briefed on the proposal and that he had no plans to announce it during the Sona.
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Three SAT board members Enver Duminy, Ravi Nadasen and Rosemary Anderson have since resigned with immediate effect at the weekend.
Mpumzi Zuzile, media liaison officer to Sisulu, has denied he attended the Hotspur match against Manchester City on Sunday.
He said he was home.
