- Pietermaritzburg High Court ruled the R27-million Royal AM sponsorship deal was unlawful because other clubs weren’t given a fair chance.
- The judge ordered that all payments made to Shauwn Mkhize’s club must be repaid immediately with interest from the judgment date.
The Pietermaritzburg High Court has ruled that the three-year, R27-million sponsorship deal between Msunduzi Municipality and Shauwn Mkhize’s football club, Royal AM, was unlawful – and has thrown it out.
In her judgment, Judge Nontuthuzelo Mlaba said it appeared the municipality wanted marketing and promotion benefits from its deal with Royal AM.
“These are services that any other soccer club based in KwaZulu-Natal could have been interested in, given the benefits they would gain from the sponsorship contract. The chance was, however, not made available to other KZN soccer clubs,” she said.
“No reasons were given as to why it was Royal AM in particular that was chosen.”
The ruling comes a month after the municipality decided to cancel the sponsorship following Royal AM’s relegation from the Premier Soccer League (PSL).
The matter was argued in February. The DA argued that when the sponsorship decision was taken in July 2023, the municipality was already in serious financial trouble.
Despite this, the council approved the deal, which also required Msunduzi to cover the annual maintenance costs of the Harry Gwala Stadium to ensure PSL compliance.
The DA’s legal counsel, Advocate Nick Ferreira, argued that the sponsorship decisions were an exercise of public power, which must follow the principle of legality.
He also said they were unreasonable administrative actions under the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act of 2000.
The DA wanted the decisions declared unlawful and invalid, and for all payments made under the sponsorship to be repaid with interest.
In response, the municipality’s lawyer, Advocate Yoga Moodley, said Msunduzi had previously sponsored Maritzburg United until the club was relegated from the PSL, at which point the deal was ended.
The municipality then chose to sponsor Royal AM and allow it to use the Harry Gwala Stadium as its home ground.
Moodley argued that the DA’s challenge was politically motivated and that the decisions were not administrative in nature.
However, Judge Mlaba concluded that the payment of any money to Royal AM under the sponsorship was unlawful.
“All payments made by the municipality to Royal AM under the sponsorship contract must be immediately repaid with interest from the date of this judgment,” she ordered.
Pictured above: MamKhize and her son Andile.
Image source: File
