Sisulu denies snubbing parliamentary meeting over R1bn Spurs sponsorship

Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu has denied snubbing the Portfolio Committee on Tourism meeting on Tuesday, which was supposed to discuss the proposed Tottenham Hotspur sponsorship deal.

Sisulu was expected to appear at the meeting, along with SA Tourism executives, to discuss the potential R1 billion sponsorship deal of the English Premier League football club.

Sisulu a no-show

The minister’s absence annoyed some of the MPs in the meeting.

“It is correct to say that we have had a minister that has been a law unto herself – never attending portfolio committees, still not here on a crucial matter,” said the portfolio committee’s chairperson Thandi Mahambehlala.

The meeting started at 9am. Sisulu reportedly arrived at 1pm.

Sisulu said she had to attend another meeting

Sisulu, on Tuesday afternoon, dismissed reports that she deliberately missed the meeting.

She said she was unable to attend the meeting in the morning because she had to be at a Joint Meeting of all Cabinet Committees, which also started at 9am.

“Minister Sisulu takes exception to the decision of the portfolio committee not to read her written apology, which was submitted on 6 February 2023. An apology was also sent by Deputy Minister Fish Mahlalela,” the Tourism Department said in a statement.

Sisulu left the meeting after 30 minutes, reportedly saying she had to depart because of the State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Thursday.

“The madam says she’s leaving because it’s the eve of Sona. I don’t know what that means,” Mahambehlala said in response to Sisulu leaving.

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The minister was later asked to return to the meeting to clarify her comments that she knew nothing about the potential deal with Tottenham Hotspur. She emphasised that she was not told about the deal and said the deal cannot be finalised until Treasury and President Cyril Ramaphosa gives it the green light.

“I’m not aware of any deal signed. This would only happen after permissions received from Treasury,” she said.

SA Tourism CEO apologises

During the meeting, SA Tourism Acting CEO Themba Khumalo was criticised for the way he addressed South Africans during his press briefing last week to explain the sponsorship deal.

Khumalo apologised for the manner in which he conducted the briefing. “Please forgive me for that,” he said.

Khumalo also defended the sponsorship deal, despite general criticism that the money could be used in other ways to benefit South Africa. He said canning the deal would hurt the country.

“It would not inspire ourselves to do great bold things to grow the economy,” he said.

MPs were not convinced though.

Some said the sponsorship deal should be abandoned. Others called for an investigation into the proposed deal.

Mahambehlala even went as far as declaring the deal over, but Sisulu pointed out that only the president can make this decision.

Last week, Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said the Presidency did not think “spending so much money in the manner that is being suggested will be justified”.

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