Minister of Sports Gayton McKenzie has expressed excitement as Free State province gets to enjoy professional football again following the imminent sale of SuperSport United topflight status to Siwelele Football Club.
SuperSport announced the developments on Thursday that Siwelele FC was awarded the rights to purchase pending the approval of the PSL Executive Committee. It has been reported that the deal is worth R50m with formal announcement expected soon.
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McKenzie told eNCA’s Percy Young on Thursday how emotional and personal this sale is as he grew up supporting the defunct Bloemfontein Celtic and the good memories attached.
He also said that he is proud of Siwelele FC chairman his son Calvin Le John however clarified that there are no links to him with the sale though he has been vocal about wanting the province to have a professional side again.
“The people of the Free State have been deprived of football, every Tom, Dick and Jabulani promised every year they’d bring the team back,” said McKenzie.
“I can tell you categorically now that I’m an arm’s length, but there’re family members of mine, they dug into their pocket and they got the team, and they got SuperSport [United]. And they will talk tomorrow about that, but as a minister, when I get reshuffled, I’ll go look for a job there as a mascot or something.
“But there’s no link to me and there should not be a link, but my involvement was actively publicly to tell South Africans, ‘I’m going to make sure that Siwelele returns to the Free State’, and it’s about to happen if the negotiations go well tonight. You see, I’m here. They are busy negotiating tonight, and it’s a proud thing for me.
“I knew nothing else I grew up very poor. The only time my family was together, and the only time my father hugged me was when [Bloemfontein] Celtic would score a goal. And it’s very emotional for my family, and my son has taken over our family business, because, as a minister, you’re not allowed to own a business. And he was there at the deathbed of my father; the last thing he spoke about was about Celtic.
“So, you can understand how this is an emotional thing for my family. So, we can’t sit here, and my family has the resources, and the people of the Free State are suffering. That can never happen.
“So, I was very proud when my son told me that you do what you need to do, I’m going to do what I need to do. I’m very, very proud of it.”
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