How SA Tourism CFO lied about links to Tottenham Hotspur sponsorship 'activation' agency

SA Tourism’s interim chief financial officer, Johan van der Walt, told Daily Maverick last week that his ties to the agency that could cash in on the controversial R1-billion Spurs sponsorship deal were highly limited.

When asked about his relationship with WWP Group, the agency named in documents as due to be given a £1.5-million (R31.3-million) upfront fee by 31 March 2023 to “activate” the sponsorship, Van der Walt replied in writing: “I have no financial interest in WWP Group, but I have in the past done some consulting work for WWP Group from time to time – predominantly work of a tax nature.”

But Daily Maverick has seen emails from 2019 proving that Van der Walt worked directly for the WWP Group at this time in the position of “group financial director”, rendering his characterisation of the relationship highly questionable.



The correspondence, which has been seen by Daily Maverick, shows Van der Walt’s role in WWP Group clearly went far beyond intermittent, pro bono tax consulting.

In the emails, Van der Walt apologises to a freelance creative who has not yet received payment for work they undertook for the WWP Group.

“We are unfortunately experiencing a delayed payment on a large project which, together with amounts we had to invest in other projects for which we have not been paid in full yet as well as other amounts where clients have not paid us yet, does not allow us to process any payments at this stage,” writes Van der Walt.

He concludes the email with the line: “With the tough economy we have to look after our clients and can only push them to an extent.”

Van der Walt’s email signature identifies him as the “Group FD” [financial director] of the WWP Group.

The freelance creative in question, who requested anonymity due to fear of professional reprisals, said that WWP Group had a bad reputation for delayed payment or non-payment of contractors – despite the fact that it was widely known that the agency benefitted from lucrative SA Tourism contracts.

South African company records show that the WWP Group was founded in September 2013. Van der Walt resigned from SA Tourism in October 2013 – one month later.

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Who’s lying to whom?

Van der Walt told Daily Maverick that when he rejoined SA Tourism in January 2023 on a seven-month contract as interim CFO, he made full disclosure of his business interests. 

There has been no official word from SA Tourism thus far on how Van der Walt could have been permitted to play a significant role in putting together a sponsorship deal with direct financial benefits to a company with which he maintains close ties.

As reported by Daily Maverick last week, Van der Walt is also listed as an active director of a number of companies with similar names to the WWP Group – for instance WWP Events and WWP Studios – which share the same business address as the WWP Group.

Read more in Daily Maverick: “SA Tourism interim CFO has ties to agency which could cash in on Tottenham Hotspur deal”

Heated SA Tourism board meeting sees three resignations

Sources close to the deal said that there was fury within SA Tourism at the revelation of Van der Walt’s conflict of interests, with acting CEO Themba Khumalo having felt that he had brought the public on his side with the Spurs deal via his animated media briefing on Thursday, 2 February.

The extent of Khumalo’s knowledge of Van der Walt’s conflicted situation, prior to Daily Maverick’s reporting, is unknown. SA Tourism is yet to make any formal statement on the issue.

At a heated SA Tourism board meeting on Saturday, 4 February, board members expressed anger at having been left in the dark about Van der Walt’s situation before giving their approval to the deal.

A terse statement from the board members in question subsequently reported the resignation of Enver Duminy, Ravi Nadasen and Rosemary Anderson as a result of “a difference of opinion”.

The SA Tourism statement on the matter, sent out shortly after, made no mention of the reason for the resignations.

Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu’s spokesperson Steve Motale subsequently did the rounds of broadcast media, hinting that the three resignations were the result of “misconduct” relating to the Spurs deal.

Daily Maverick understands, however, that the three resigned members were vocal in their disapproval of the Spurs deal and were therefore suspected of having leaked the information to the media, creating an atmosphere of hostility and intimidation that made their continued positions untenable.

Sisulu reportedly about to announce Spurs deal binned

The Sunday Times has reported that Sisulu would be announcing that the Spurs deal was off the table, allowing her to distance herself from a proposal that Daily Maverick understands she had extensive knowledge of in advance.

This continues to be denied by both Sisulu’s spokesperson and SA Tourism CEO Khumalo, who told the press conference last week that Sisulu had not yet been briefed on the Spurs proposal.

That notion has already been contradicted by former SA Tourism board chair Dr Nondumiso Maphazi, who told The Sowetan last week that Sisulu had signed off on a delegation that visited London in mid-January to work on the Spurs deal.

Maphazi told Daily Maverick on Sunday, 5 February, that she was not prepared to comment further on the matter.

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-02-05-tourism-spurs-deal-english-premier-league-guarantees-massive-exposure-but-not-necessarily-good-returns/

Even if the Spurs deal is binned, it appears that the floodgates have opened to other such proposals.

A video that went viral over the weekend shows SA Tourism COO Sonto Ndlovu and Khumalo opening a box containing another sponsorship enticement.

Ndlovu subsequently tweeted: “Destination South Africa is now hot property. Another proposal just landed. ManU [Manchester United] this time. 1.1 billion followers”.



The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc), meanwhile, released a statement reporting its members’ “absolute outrage and disagreement” at the proposed Spurs deal.

Sascoc noted that a slew of international sporting events are being hosted by South Africa in 2023 – including the Netball World Cup – and suggested that SA Tourism consider putting some of its marketing budget behind these events instead. DM