Johannesburg – South African Tourism's acting chief financial officer Johan van der Walt has quit the job after he was implicated in the R1 billion Tottenham Hotspur sleeve sponsorship saga.
According to reports, Van der Walt submitted his resignation last Thursday after he had been served with a notice of suspension on Tuesday by new SA Tourism board chairperson Dr Thozamile Botha.
Botha had given Van der Walt until this Tuesday (yesterday) to give reasons why he should not be suspended.
Botha said the board was not aware of an alleged conflict of interests involving Van der Walt as he failed to declare his interests in meetings.
Van der Walt admitted he had links to an agency that was set to receive more than R31 million from the controversial sponsorship deal with English Premier League soccer team Tottenham Hotspur.
He insisted that he had no financial interests with the agency, WWP Group, but confirmed that he had done consulting work for the firm.
In an interview with “TimesLive” on Tuesday, Botha said the acting CFO resigned instead of furnishing reasons why he should not be suspended.
He had apparently cited the Spurs deal saga as his reason for resigning from the post he was due to act in for just seven months, having been hired in January.
Van der Walt had also recently come under fire from Parliament tourism portfolio committee chair, Thandi Mahambehlala, who called for his resignation when he appeared before the portfolio.
SA Tourism is still pressing on with the Spurs sponsorship deal, despite loud protestations against the deal in society.
SA Tourism believed the deal would benefit the country as it would attract football loving tourists to the country, where they would spend in South Africa’s various tourism and hospitality destinations.
Three SA Tourism board members – Enver Duminy, Ravi Nadasen and Rosemary Anderson – resigned in protest against the deal.
A decision on whether the deal will be approved is awaited from Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana and President Cyril Ramaphosa.
IOL