Manny de Freitas MP, the DA’s Shadow Minister of Tourism, says his party will submit a Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) application for all documentation surrounding the proposed SA Tourism (SAT) R1 billion Tottenham Hotspurs deal.
“In particular we seek documentation that shows that South Africa and tourism would benefit from this deal. This is particularly important considering that the SAT press conference created more confusion and additional questions than answers.
“In the last few days, three members of the SAT board have resigned directly because of this deal. Additionally, there appears to have been no competitive bidding process, which makes this whole matter irregular,” he said in a media release on February 6.
“It is vital that this information be obtained as soon as possible, particularly considering that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesman has publicly announced that the President does not support this deal. However, sources reveal to the DA that this deal was to be included in the SONA speech by Ramaphosa this week. Ramaphosa must thus come out unequivocally against this deal.”
De Freitas added that the Minister of Tourism, Lindiwe Sisulu should have pronounced and clarified this matter publicly, and remarked that she had been deafeningly silent on the matter.
“Our research reveals that “some board members” of SAT, as well as the South African High Commissioner in the UK, had already been at the stadium to assess and verify the “feasibility of this proposed venture” to be a “tier one partner of this football brand”. Our PAIA application should clarify these allegations,” said De Freitas.
“While local tourism enterprises receive no support to mitigate the ongoing loadshedding and its impact on tourism, SAT saw fit to spend this exorbitant amount on a foreign football club with no assurance that tourism in South Africa would benefit from this.
“I will not let this matter be swept under the carpet. All information pertaining to this matter must be made public so that there is clarity on this matter and if indeed taxpayers’ money is being wasted on a scheme that appears to show signs of potential corruption.”
