John Arwuah of Amazulu and Ronald Ketjijere of University of Pretoria battle for the ball during the Absa Premiership match between AmaZulu and University of Pretoria.
The Premier Soccer League (PSL) meets in Johannesburg this weekend to discuss the sale of Thanda Royal Zulu to AmaZulu for a reported fee of between R60‑million and R100‑million.
The City of uMhlathuze has condemned the transaction and asked the South African Football Association (Safa) to intervene.
The council says it has invested in the club for years as the main sponsor. Now it feels betrayed by the decision of chairperson Pierre Delvaux to sell just after attaining promotion.
“This is daylight robbery and betrayal of the highest order,” charged uMhlathuze mayor Mdu Mhlongo, saying it would deprive young locals of seeing premier league football on their doorstep.
“The people of uMhlathuze … invested their hearts when the club was struggling and supported it with all they had until the glory days.
“Taxpayers’ money was invested in improving the stadium to accommodate the club’s success. Just recently, R14‑million worth of Fifa-accredited stadium lights were installed and more improvements in the facility worth millions are underway, which will go down the drain if the sale goes through,” he said.
But several sources, including AmaZulu general manager Lunga Sokhela, confirmed the deal was sealed and the PSL just needed to rubberstamp it.
Although AmaZulu missed purchasing Mpumalanga Black Aces (which was bought by John Comitis, who renamed the club Cape Town City and moved it to Cape Town), this time the Sokhela family has managed to capture their prize.
The tone was set by Delvaux the day Thanda Royal Zulu won promotion when he hinted he would not be able to keep the team afloat in the elite division.
“We appeal to Dr Irvin Khoza and … the PSL to flatly dismiss the alleged transaction and put the interest of soccer first,” said Mhlongo, adding the city might activate an agreement with Thanda to prevent the club from proceeding with the transaction.
But Mhlongo is trying to shut the gate after the horse has bolted. The PSL is expected to sanction the sale, though Safa is believed to be unimpressed with the trend of clubs buying their way into the elite league.