Social media was abuzz with the news of Zodwa Wabantu getting into the ring with Khanyi Mbau. Although a promotional poster has been shared online, the South African government has denied claims that it is sponsoring the event.
According to the poster, the women are battling it out at The Ridge Casino in Emalahleni, Mpumalanga, on 22 October. Promoter Arnold ‘Squire’ Nododile previously told SowetanLIVE, “This will be the first ever female celebrity exhibition boxing match-up in the African Continent since such fights have become part and parcels of the evolution of boxing around the globe… I expect a big attendance due to the massive following they have.”
The above-mentioned publication states that on Tuesday, the province’s Department of Culture, Sport and Recreation shared that it is not too pleased with Arnold after his company Infinity International Boxing used the department’s logo on the poster.
Bhutini Ngoma, the director of sports and recreation, told SowetanLIVE, “We are not sure how they got our logo and used it without our permission. And we are not happy about this. They came to us with a presentation with dates and set deadlines and we told them that it does not work like that. We have processes that they must follow to apply for the funding.”
Bhutini added, “We also explained to them [Arthur] that the department is going through budget cuts and we are yet to know for certain which programmes would be affected and by how much. He seems to suggest that the money allocated to us is meant for his event. We want to state categorically that we are not part of the event and we have not sponsored them in any way.”
The Emalahleni local municipality has also been listed as a sponsor. Municipal spokesperson Lebogang Mofokeng noted, “The use of our logo was unauthorised. I would have been part of granting the permission for them to use the logo as the spokesperson, but I have not dealt with such a request. We cannot even afford to sponsor such even if we wanted to.”
Zodwa has already confirmed her participation in the match, writing on Instagram, “It’s been a long time coming. I can’t wait to set my foot in the ring. Infinity International Boxing has made it possible.”
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On the other hand, according to the blog Maphepha Ndaba, Khanyi has denied her participation in the match, calling it fake news.
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