By: Natasha Archary

Tourism Minister, Patricia de Lille has put the brakes on the controversial Tottenham Hotspur deal after legal consultation.
The newly appointed Minister says after inheriting key matters in the portfolio, including the R1 billion sponsorship deal of the English Football Club, she’s had to make decisions with careful consideration.
Addressing media on Friday, 24 March, de Lille said money within the tourism sector must be spent wisely and prudently as its public funds.
De Lille said there were three fundamental reasons for her to put the brakes on the Tottenham Hotspur deal, all of which made the deal unlawful and invalid.
The 3 reasons are:
- That the sponsorship is in fact a procurement event which does not comply with Section 217 of the Constitution, the Treasury instructions issued in terms of the Public Finance Management Act 1 of 1999 (PFMA) and SA Tourism’s own Supply Chain Management Policy.
It appears that the sponsorship is a service which was proposed to be acquired through procurement by ‘sole source.’ Sole source procurement is however only allowed where there is no competition in the market and only one supplier is able to provide the goods or services, which does not appear to be the case here.
2. The sponsorship has not been budgeted for as required by Section 53 of the PFMA and that the expenditure thereon would be irregular or unauthorised within the meaning of those terms in the PFMA.
3. That the deal amounts to a ‘significant partnership transaction’ which required my prior approval in terms of Section 54 (2) of the PFMA.
MEDIA STATEMENT: UPDATE TO THE MEDIA ON THE TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR/SA TOURISM SPONSORHIP PROPOSAL@GovernmentZA pic.twitter.com/E3KOm415GA
— Patricia de Lille (@PatriciaDeLille) March 24, 2023
Patricia de Lille says she wrote to the Tourism Board on 22 March and received an interim response on Friday, 24 March, which informs her reasoning that the proposal be stopped completely.
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