The fall of Shauwn Mkhize's Royal AM is another damning indictment of the PSL's highest bidder franchise license system

By October, just two months after purchasing PSL status, we got a taste of how things were going to be done when Mkhize and her entourage, kitted out in designer clothes, strutted onto the field after a last-gasp 2-1 victory against Maritzburg United, holding a big brown envelope stuffed with R200 bills.

Soon we were treated to the sight of embarrassed players getting handed cash bonuses for the victory. The PSL duly handed out a R1.65 million fine to the club, but the die had now been cast.

To be fair to MaMkhize and Andile, their first season was decent with a distant second-place finish behind Sundowns and qualification for the Caf Confederation Cup. But within two months of the 2022-23 season starting they terminated the contract of Samir Nurkovic because they said he had been on "sick leave” for too long.

The former Chiefs striker's representatives promptly took the club to Fifa's Dispute Resolution Chamber which sided with the player's case and demanded they pay out his contract in full.

The club refused to accept this outcome and were eventually slapped with a transfer ban in January 2024 until payment of R15 million was made to the Serbian. This money is still outstanding and the ban is still in place over a year later.

Once again MaMkhize's club decided to unilaterally terminate a player's contract and refuse to pay out. The former Sundowns defender followed the by now well-worn path to Fifa's DRC and unsurprisingly won his case.

Also unsurprisingly, Royal AM refused to pay and another transfer ban was implemented just a couple of weeks after the ban for Nurkovic's case.

By October 2024 the transfer ban(s) were starting to bite. Without the ability to register young talent, Royal AM ran out of eligible players for the DStv Diski Challenge.

The PSL released a statement saying, “Royal AM Football Club has been unable to field a team in the 2024-25 DStv Diski Challenge competition due to a FIFA registration ban.

“After reviewing the facts and representations presented by the club this week, the PSL Executive Committee has resolved to halt Royal AM Football Club's participation in the 2024-25 DStv Diski Challenge competition.”

It started with the DJ-rapper-influencer-club chairman being named on the bench a couple of times and everyone thought it was just part of his look-at-me influencer schtick. But then he started getting on the pitch to great derision from fans and pundits alike.

His first start followed in a 3-0 defeat to AmaZulu and he was taken off at halftime. His performance moved Cape Town Spurs coach Ernst Middendorp to say, “Guys, I feel really embarrassed as a coach and then you sit there and say ‘Because he was so fit’. Because he was so good at the training session [so] he deserves to play.

“Guys we have a portfolio of challenges so yeah I will not say a lot, we have enough challenges here. But what’s going on in the league is an orchestra of comics.” 

This did not deter Mpisane who became a regular feature of the team this season where he has made 10 appearances in cup and league fixtures, amassing 460 minutes of football that has brought no goals, no assists, no yellow cards or anything else that might bother the statisticians to record.

Reports of Shauwn Mkhize's tax troubles had been circulating for some time and finally came to a head in November 2024 when Sars and the Saps raided several properties and businesses linked to the socialite.

Despite this the club fulfilled their December fixtures, losing to AmaZulu 2-1 and TS Galaxy 3-1, but by January this year, reports emerged that players and staff had not been paid and the club was forced to reveal that it had fallen under Sars curatorship.

The postponements started and much hand-wringing about the integrity of the league season began.

Soon, though, it was revealed that salaries had been paid and the team was ready to meet their fixture commitments, with General Manager Richard Makhoba bullish about his team's chances against Orlando Pirates for a match due to take place on Thursday, January 24.

But alas it was all just smoke and mirrors as the PSL revealed they had not received the necessary guarantees in a 'Letter of Comfort' and postponed the match and Royal AM's Nedbank Cup fixture against Milford.

Last week sports minister Gayton McKenzie went on Robert Marawa's 947 Joburg show and, after initially sympathising with Royal AM's plight, then seemed to suggest that there was a group trying to buy back Thwihli Thwahla's PSL license for Bloemfontein Celtic. Where that leaves the 'integrity of the league season' is anyone's guess.

The PSL NEC is due to meet again on Friday, January 24. In that meeting, the committee will be hoping to receive the 'Letter of Comfort' they need to allow Royal AM to resume playing fixtures.

If that document is not received then the PSL will have to find another way out of this pickle of their own making. Unfortunately, the only way out will then be the same one that caused these issues... sell Royal AM's PSL license to the highest bidder.