Durban: The Royal AM Football Club has attributed its failure to pay the salaries of players last month to the club being placed under curatorship following a preservation order obtained by the SA Revenue Service (Sars).
Club president Shauwn Mkhize said yesterday that the curator was overseeing the club’s assets.
The issue came to the fore after the Premier Soccer League (PSL) club missed one of its home games due to the players not being paid their December salaries.
The situation has raised concerns from Royal AM’s official sponsor, the Msunduzi Municipality, which warned that “it will be a problem” if the club misses its home games.
In terms of the multimillion-rand sponsorship, R27 million was injected into the club by the municipality and the deal stipulates that all of the club’s homes fixtures should be played at the Harry Gwala Stadium.
The municipality said if the club was unable to honour its home games, this would harm the local economy, which was a key factor behind the city’s sponsorship of the club.
Ratepayers and opposition parties in the city said the city’s sponsorship of the club was a mistake from the outset.
In a statement yesterday, Mkhize said: “Royal AM Football Club wishes to address the unfortunate situation regarding the non-payment of salaries for December 2024, affecting our valued players, technical team, and staff. We acknowledge the hardship this has caused and extend our heartfelt apologies to those impacted, including their families.
“As many are aware, the club is under curatorship following a preservation order obtained by Sars. While this has resulted in the temporary appointment of a curator, Mr Jaco Venter, to oversee the club’s assets and operations, we want to assure all stakeholders that Royal AM remains committed to resolving this matter as swiftly as possible.
“The club’s management team, led by our CEO and general manager, has been working diligently with the curator to secure the necessary permissions to release funds for salary payments. It has always been the ethos of Royal AM to prioritise the well-being of our personnel, and we remain dedicated to upholding that principle despite the current challenges.”
She said Royal AM was committed to preserving the integrity of the club and ensuring its long-term success.
“We remain optimistic that this situation will be resolved soon, and we will provide timely updates as developments unfold.”
Msunduzi mayor Mzimkhulu Thebolla said: “We believe this is their internal matter; there is nothing in our contract with them that states they must inform us about their internal matters, but I will have a look at the contract. Our agreement with them is that they must be in the PSL.”
Thebolla expressed concern about the impact if the club missed local games at Harry Gwala Stadium.
“If they miss local games, that would damage the local economy, so clearly there would be a problem.”
Anthony Walhausen, chairperson of the Msunduzi Association of Residents, Ratepayers and Civics, said the municipality should not have sponsored any football club in the first place.
“This shows poor governance and highlights the incompetency of the council to approve the sponsorship. This amounts to fruitless and wasteful expenditure on the part of the council,” said Walhausen.
He also questioned why the Msunduzi council did not conduct a background check on Shauwn Mkhize, noting the recent action by Sars.
He described the municipality’s sponsorship of the club as a poor investment that should have been directed towards service delivery, which he said was either non-existent or of poor quality.
Councillor Rienus Niemand, of the ACDP, said the party opposed the sponsorship of Royal AM from the start.
He said: “It is one of the worst decisions taken by the municipal council for a number of reasons. Priorities and affordability are the primary reasons. For a municipality under financial stress like ours, it is plain stupidity to enter into such a commitment. As for the management and performance of the club, it has been shocking. The bad publicity, which also reflects on the city, is a disaster.”
Niemand continued, “The owner of the club must take full responsibility and set things right to save what can be saved, if at all possible.
“The mayor specifically and the council must be called to account for such ineptitude. The ACDP warned when voting against the sponsorship decision that the city’s reputation and its finances would be severely damaged. The chickens have now come home to roost. Another sign of absolute political bankruptcy.”