By: Natasha Archary
Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu claims that a media report confirming the department’s R1 billion Tottenham Hotspur sponsorship is filled with inaccuracies and untruths.
However, the English football club has reportedly confirmed that the agreement between SA tourism and the club is imminent.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, 01 February, Sisulu said the Daily Maverick report sought to drive a political agenda rather than to inform the public truthfully.
“The reporter falsely claims that Lindiwe Sisulu is forcing SA Tourism to push the deal through before she is removed from the tourism portfolio.
This is a blatant lie. This reported deal, is purely an SAT board matter on which Minister Sisulu has not been formally briefed by the board.”
Lindiwe Sisulu on the R1 billion Tottenham Hotspur sponsorship
🚨 Media Statement 🚨
— Lindiwe Sisulu (@LindiweSisuluSA) February 1, 2023
I have noted the report by the Daily Maverick.
Sadly, the article is riddled with inaccuracies and untruths aimed at tarnishing my image.
There is no doubt the report seeks to drive a political agenda rather to inform the public truthfully in line with pic.twitter.com/8ERamEDJiD
However, the DA says that Sisulu’s shifting the blame on a deal that is an even worse idea that the money that government allocated to Cuba.
“The media report states that the deal ‘was on the verge of being finalised’, and we’ll be sending a delegation from DA Abroad to find out what the status of the deal is.
This deal is a slap in the face of every South African whose hard-earned tax will be used to sponsor a first-world football team.
The DA will do everything in our power to oppose this lunacy.”
Despite various news outlets claiming the English Football Club has confirmed the sponsorship deal, Tottenham Hotspur have not released a statement in this regard.
The proposed three-year deal worth £42.5 million (about R900m) is meant to start at the beginning of the 2023/24 English Premier League season, ending at the end of the 2026/27.
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