PSL giving Royal AM’s Sars matter full attention, says Mato Madlala

The Premier Soccer League (PSL) is giving the Royal AM matter its full attention but cannot comment on the specifics of what action is being considered, CEO Mato Madlala said.

TimesLIVE is informed the league is gravely concerned by developments at the KwaZulu-Natal club but not at panic stations as it seeks the best way forward after Royal owner Shauwn Mkhize fell foul of the SA Revenue Service (Sars).

It is understood a curator has been appointed to look into Mkhize’s financial affairs as she allegedly owes Sars a R40m tax debt through her family trust.

Players at Royal have gone on strike as their salaries in December were paid late, resulting in the club being unable to honour its Betway Premiership fixture this weekend against Chippa United.

Sars has reportedly indicated further steps, including liquidation, may be a possibility for Royal.

“Member club business I do not discuss. It’s all out there, documented, that the league has given Royal a postponement for the weekend and we are going to inform the public about what will happen,” Madlala told TimesLIVE on Wednesday.

“We are guided by the member club to say, ‘can we do this or that?’. And then we act.

“So let’s just give it time. Hopefully we will see some form of solution.”

Madlala said the PSL would not appoint any form of crisis committee to discuss the issue as that responsibility rests with the league’s executive committee (exco). She could not reveal if an exco meeting has been planned in response to the Royal matter.

“Matters like this are not normal. Just give us time. We understand the public are interested and so are other member clubs.”

Asked if the PSL can reveal if it is giving the matter its full attention, Madlala replied: “Definitely.”

Chippa revealed the postponement of their match against Royal in a tersely worded statement on Tuesday.

“Chippa United announces with disappointment that our scheduled fixture against Royal AM on January 11 at 5.45pm at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium has been postponed by the league with no given reason,” the Eastern Cape club said.

“This decision, made by the PSL at the last minute comes after all necessary arrangements, including logistics and venue preparations, had been finalised.”

PSL chair Irvin Khoza in November expressed his concern at “finishing the league with 15 teams” in response to financially-challenged Royal’s inability to field their DStv Diski Challenge U-23 team due to a Fifa ban on registering new players.

Among concerns for the league, should Royal be unable to complete the season or is liquidated, are what happens to the PSL’s monthly grant of R2.5m for Royal? Given a curator has been appointed to deal with Mkhize’s assets, could the grant be attached?

The PSL will secure legal advice to ensure it is informed and protected on such matters.

It is understood that, in terms of the Premiership, if Royal withdraw from the league all existing points gained or lost in matches involving the club will be expunged.

If Royal is liquidated the PSL would look to promote an extra team from the Motsepe Foundation Championship next season to restore the Premiership to 16 teams.

In the 1980s, Standard Bank seized Mamelodi Sundowns when owner Zola Mahobe was prosecuted for defrauding the bank, which sold the franchise to brothers Abe and Solly Krok.

The PSL will hope that if Sars and its curator resolve to sell Royal to recoup costs, they do it this season to avoid complications for the 2025-2026 campaign.

Sars, in a statement released on November 26, said: “The KwaZulu-Natal High Court [in Durban] has granted a preservation order and a search-and-seizure warrant in the case involving the commissioner for Sars vs Shauwn Mkhize and others.

“Sars enforces the provisions outlined in the Tax Administration Act with particular focus on section 163, on preserving and securing assets. This recent enforcement action is one of many steps Sars has taken in collaboration with the SAPS and Hawks to uphold the integrity of our tax system.

“The orders were obtained to prevent the dissipation of realisable assets which could hinder the collection of taxes and to secure evidence of potential noncompliance with tax laws administered by the Sars commissioner.”

The involvement in football of flamboyant business-person and former reality TV star Mkhize, popularly nicknamed “MaMkhize”, has been punctuated by controversy.

Royal dragged the PSL through the courts in a protracted saga after being denied the 2020-2021 first division title and promotion to the Premiership by a disciplinary committee points award to winners Sekhukhune United, at one stage applying to have Madlala jailed for contempt of court.

Royal refused to honour that season’s promotion playoffs fixtures.

Despite this, the PSL approved the sale of Bloemfontein Celtic’s Premiership franchise to Royal in August 2021, with the club relocated to KwaZulu-Natal.

Royal’s Fifa transfer ban is in relation to a pay dispute with the club’s former striker Samir Nurković.

In November 2021 the club received a R1.65m fine, with R1.325m suspended, for transgressions in their 2-1 Premiership win against Maritzburg United at Chatsworth Stadium the month before, including handing out bonuses in cash to players on the field in front of TV cameras.