SA Tourism’s proposed Spurs deal ‘has more benefits’ than Rwanda and Arsenal

03 February 2023 - 06:19 By Marc Strydom
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
Themba Khumalo, acting CEO of SA Tourism, addresses members of the media at Bojanala House in Sandton regarding the leaked document on plans for it to enter a sponsorship deal with English Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur.
Themba Khumalo, acting CEO of SA Tourism, addresses members of the media at Bojanala House in Sandton regarding the leaked document on plans for it to enter a sponsorship deal with English Premier League team Tottenham Hotspur.
Image: Thapelo Morebudi

South Africa Tourism  acting CEO Themba Khumalo says the agency's proposed R910m deal to partner with Tottenham Hotspur costs more than Rwanda's similar deal with Arsenal because it “has more benefits”.

He denied knowledge of a possibility of partnering with Chelsea for R760m, as reported by the SABC.

Khumalo said Spurs were chosen because they were the “only team in the top-performing tier [of the EPL] that did not have a destination partner”.

News of the proposal has met angry reaction since it was broken, via leaks by Daily Maverick, as South Africans question the almost R1bn cost amid escalating load-shedding and crumbling infrastructure.

The cost raised further questions as the “Visit Rwanda” sleeve sponsorship with Arsenal, a bigger team than Spurs, is reported to cost that country £10m a year over four years. At £42.5m over three years, SA Tourism's deal with Tottenham would work out at £14.2m per year.

“We have analysed the Rwanda case study. That deal was a straight media buy. It was buying access to the audience and nothing else,” Khumalo said.

“Our deal has got a lot of other benefits, like the fact that we are able to do advocacy and other creative things.

“That is why we would pay slightly more, because we have access to an extra bouquet of benefits not in the Rwanda deal.”

Asked about the criticisms of lack of “trickle down” benefits to Rwandans, Khumalo said: “In their transaction, because it was a direct media transaction, it didn’t have the on-the-ground components.

“And we are very insistent that in our deal there will be activity on the ground in South Africa. It will affect businesses directly.”

Rwanda's deal with Arsenal resulted in an 8% growth in tourism.

“If you look at the Rwanda supply side, the tourism platform, it’s not even close to what we have in South Africa in terms of the number of beds, tourism attractions and overall offering,” Khumalo said.

“They had an overall 8% lift over their normal growth trajectory. So when you see [a reported figure of] 22% it means they would have been growing at 14% and then 8% came above that.”

SABC reported Fifa Match agent Ellen Chiwenga said he approached the South African government in 2021 to offer a sleeve sponsorship worth R760m over three years with Chelsea.

“I raise both my hands, I have never seen the document [on Chelsea],” Khumalo said at the SA Tourism press conference in Sandton.

“I have seen a completely different team, but not the one being referred to.

“Maybe it was seen by a colleague of mine, I don’t know. But formally being presented to us as an option, no, that I have not seen.”

Pressed that the SABC report was that the “tourism department” had seen the document, Khumalo said: “We wouldn’t be able to speak on behalf of the department.

“It was not communicated to me. I have not seen that proposal.

“But I have seen another proposal and I can confirm that. And the [SA Tourism] board took a decision then, not on the principle of whether we should access the audiences. It was an issue of timing that because we were in the middle of Covid-19 and it was probably not the right time.

“The conditions have changed now and that’s why we’re looking at the EPL as an aggregator of audiences.”


READ MORE

subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now

Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.