Uncertainty looms over Royal AM as Nedbank Cup exclusion and tax troubles shake club’s future

Sabelo Sithole of Royal AM and Yanela Mbuthuma of Richards Bay during their Premiership match at Harry Gwala Stadium on 24 September 2024 in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. (Photo: Darren Stewart / Gallo Images)

Key stakeholders have adopted the ‘silence is golden’ rule as the Royal AM and South African Revenue Service saga rolls on.

There remains much uncertainty on the overall future of Royal AM, even though the latest news on the team is that they have been booted out of the Nedbank Cup. The KwaZulu-Natal club, affectionately known as Twihli Twahla, have yet to kick a ball in 2025.

They were scheduled to play Championship side Milford during the round of 32 of the knockout competition, in January.

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) seized control of Royal as part of its attempts to recoup a tax bill of about R40-million owed to it by club boss Shauwn Mkhize, which is linked to a family trust fund. As a result, the last time Twihli Twahla played was on 29 December 2024.

In that league match, they were beaten 3-1 by TS Galaxy. But that thrashing would prove to be the least of their problems in subsequent weeks, with SARS swooping in and placing the team under the curatorship of Jaco Venter.

On Tuesday, 25 February, the Premier Soccer League (PSL) announced that Royal were officially out of the Cup after an executive committee meeting.

“Having reviewed these representations, the executive committee, in concurrence with Royal AM and the curator, resolved that Royal AM will take no further part in the Nedbank Cup competition this season, in the interest of time,” said the PSL in a statement.

Royal itself is not facing the direct wrath of SARS, but it has been affected after the national tax collector’s search and seizure of Mkhize’s assets in November 2024.

No comment  

Daily Maverick reached out to Royal’s general manager Richard Makhoba for comment following the PSL’s announcement. He declined to provide any commentary.

“We’re not dealing with the media for now. We’ll make a day to deal with the media,” Makhoba said.

That was also the stance of the PSL when this publication spoke to its CEO and Golden Arrows chairperson Mato Madlala recently.

“There is no statement to make about Royal AM. I have nothing to say,” Madlala told Daily Maverick. “When we are ready to say something we always make a statement, so that we say one thing to all of you. I don’t want you to quote me and say this is what I said, when I didn’t say that.

“So, we prefer doing it in writing, so that we can send it to all of you. So, that you can quote us from something we have written, and it’s the same thing. The same voice and the same message to all of you. So, there’s nothing else to say,” Madlala said.

Royal era

Royal AM have been under the spotlight since 2021, when the KwaZulu-Natal-based side refused to play in the relegation/promotion playoffs of that season.

At the time the team, owned by businesswoman and reality TV star Mkhize, believed they had been treated unfairly by the PSL after missing out on automatic promotion to the top flight from the Championship.

Sekhukhune United were crowned the winners of that second-tier league campaign, beating second-placed Royal by just two points to earn automatic promotion. Three of the points accumulated by Sekhukhune during that season came after they were handed three points by the league after their opponents, Polokwane City, were punished for failing to field the prescribed number of under-23 players, as stipulated by PSL rules.

Royal boycotted the season-ending playoffs, instead approaching the courts to try to have Sekhukhune’s promotion overturned. This did not happen, with Mkhize eventually buying the Premiership status of cash-strapped Bloemfontein Celtic to join Sekhukhune as one of the two new top-flight teams for the 2021/22 season.

Royal AM owner Shauwn Mkhize and her son, club chairman Andile Mpisane. (Photo: Instagram)

Andile Mpisane of Royal AM. (Photo: Lefty Shivambu / Gallo Images)

Of course, as all this unfolds, the livelihoods of players are at stake. Their futures are up in the air. Like Royal and the PSL, the South African Football Players’ Union declined to comment on the matter, saying there was too much uncertainty at this point for them to provide any commentary.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has been critical of Msunduzi Municipality’s decision to sponsor Royal AM R27-million over three years after Maritzburg United were relegated from the Premiership at the end of the 2022/23 season.

DA councillor in Msunduzi Reggie Khanyile recently tabled a motion to terminate the contract, considering all the negative publicity around Royal, and especially with the municipality struggling to offer basic services to its citizens. Khanyile said his motion was swatted aside.

“This refusal to table the motion is an affront to the residents of Msunduzi and undermines their interests,” said Khanyile. “The DA will continue to fight the sponsorship in court, with a hearing scheduled for 28 February 2025 at the Pietermaritzburg High Court. Furthermore, we are calling for an internal audit to investigate the sponsorship deal, specifically to determine whether any payments have been made by the municipality to Royal AM,” Khanyile said.

Although Mkhize is still fighting to save the club, SARS curator Venter is looking to sell it, with the alternative being liquidation if no buyers are forthcoming. The club owes its former Serbian striker Samir Nurkovic more than R12-million in remuneration and is currently banned by Fifa from signing players as a result.

If someone were to buy the club, they would inherit this debt as well as the contracts of the current players. While this happens, the PSL is cast in an extremely bad light, with its credibility and reputation taking a severe knock. DM