AmaZulu sale bucks the trend in recent PSL free-market frenzy
The buying and selling of Premier Soccer League statuses is a trend that can be divisive, especially when clubs rich in history and with a fixed support base are the ones on the chopping block.
Over the past few months, three Premier Soccer League (PSL) clubs have been sold and taken over by new owners. They are Bidvest Wits, Highlands Park and, most recently, AmaZulu.
The most high–profile of these sales was undoubtedly that of Wits, a club nearing its centenary after 99 years in existence. The Clever Boys sold their premier division status to GladAfrica Championship side, Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM).
The club’s majority shareholder, Bidvest, opted to review its sports-related sponsorships and thus bring to an end a 15-year partnership with Wits University.
Whereas Wits was the most high-profile sale, for people deeply vested in the history and preservation of football in South Africa, the sale of AmaZulu was the most exemplary.
This is because, unlike the situation with Wits, where TTM has changed the name and relocated the club to Limpopo from Gauteng, AmaZulu will remain in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), as AmaZulu. The only thing that has changed is ownership.
Outgoing AmaZulu chairman Patrick Sokhela told a media briefing recently that he was pleased that one of the oldest clubs in South African football history would not
Pitso Mosimane (C) during his first training session with Al Ahly in Cairo. appears to be driven by the slogan of his former club, “the sky’s the limit”. After coaching Sundowns to five league titles and victories in the CAF Champions League and Super Cup, it was time to move on and take up a bigger challenge.
Until Mosimane led Sundowns to the continental title in 2016, South Africa, despite having one of the richest leagues in the world, had gone 15 years without continental glory.
Orlando Pirates was the first local club to win the CAF Champions League, in 1995, during what was probably the country’s golden era of football. Kaizer Chiefs followed with victory in the African Cup Winners’ Cup in 2001.
In SA, club football in the rest of Africa is generally viewed as an insignificant, financially consuming inconvenience that interferes with the domestic programme.
But in Egypt, continental club football is everything. And that fits well with Mosimane’s vision. During his tenure with Sundowns, Mosimane always expressed a burning desire to become a force in continental football.
Joining Al Ahly presents him with an opportunity to conquer Africa once more. If he succeeds, it will no doubt reflect
Egyptians follow and play the game with heart, mind, body and soul. There is no middle ground. Unlike in South Africa where rival fans sit and sing together during derbies, in Egypt it’s different.
be losing its identity after being sold to KZN businessman Sandile Zungu, through his business, Zungu Investments Company.
“I’m very happy that AmaZulu will remain here, and I’m going to be open with you. For the longest time I’ve been with the club, I have to tell you this for the first time, and I told my friend Sandile Zungu this morning, I had a stroke, two times,” said Sokhela on his reasons for selling the club.
As well as being one of the clubs with the richest history in the country, AmaZulu also have supporters within the Zulu royal family. Sokhela further explained that, before he sold the club, he had to consult with King Goodwill Zwelithini.
“I also had a conversation with [Zulu King] Isilo Samabandla and told him about my plan. He begged me to carry on, but I told him that I’m tired and there should be another person to take over from me,” he explained.
“When Zungu approached me, I was happy and we had a conversation alongside Isilo. I wish they can give him the same support.”
This takeover, rooted in continuity and preservation of history, is what many football supporters would like to see. However, it is usually takeovers similar to Wits and TTM, plus Highlands Park selling its DStv Premiership status to TS Galaxy, that are more commonplace.
The trend is not new, and even AmaZulu has been guilty of it in the past. The club bought the top-flight status of another KZNbased side, Thanda Royal Zulu in 2017, after
AmaZulu players during the Absa Premiership 2019/20 match between AmaZulu and Highlands Park at Lucas Moripe Stadium on 5 September. Photo: Lefty Shivambu/Gallo images
numerous failed attempts to gain automatic promotion. In 2006, they also bought Dynamos’ status, following relegation in the 2001/2 season.
In the past, PSL chairman Irvin Khoza has reiterated that, despite obvious concern, there’s nothing the body can do to stem these sorts of transactions, even though they tend to leave long-time supporters suddenly without a team to back.
“We are all worried, but it is not about individual feelings. It is about what the constitution of the country says,” Khoza said. “It talks about free economic activity. If somebody sells [their company], you can’t stop that person.
“If they come to apply to us, we will verify whether there are no takers where the status is residing. In the absence of buyers [in the area where the club is based], then there’s
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The highest bidder will prevail. But we encourage you to sell to someone where the status is residing so that you can maintain the legacy of the club
nothing we can do,” Khoza added.
“The highest bidder will prevail. But we encourage you to sell to someone where the status is residing so that you can maintain the legacy of the club.”
Of course, one does have to consider that when teams sell or consider selling it is either because they are facing financial struggles or the offer from the buyer is just too outstanding to resist. And as Khoza points out, football clubs are businesses after all.
But it is the loyal supporters of teams who receive the short end of the stick, after spending years investing in a club. DM168