Bloemfontein Celtic sale reportedly derailed by R43m Sars debt
The sale of the popular Free State club has hit another snag when it was discovered the club's owner owes the taxman.
Bloemfontein Celtic fans (Photo by Anesh Debiky/Gallo Images)
Bloemfontein Celtic chairman Max Tshabalala is in trouble with the South African Revenue Service (Sars) over a debt that stretches to his other businesses.
Tshabalala’s cousin and lawyer Mandla Tshabalala confirmed that the Siwelele boss owes Sars money.
Mandla denied the debt affected the potential sale of the club to Sinki Leshabane and Dr Moeketsi Mosola and says Max is working to settle it.
“Max voluntarily let Sars know about this transaction. They correctly issued a TPA to the potential buyers,” the lawyer told TimesLive.
“Which is not a train smash. Max went to the potential buyers and said‚ ‘Even with the TPA‚ this deal still continues. When you’ve paid Sars it’s like you’ve paid me’.
“Sars even came with a beautiful payment plan and said‚ ‘In the R22 million‚ pay R15 million and then run your business‚ and then maybe in 30 days pay the remainder’.
“There was no stumbling block. They just had to pay the TPA and the ownership would have passed to them.”
Mandla Tshabalala said his cousin would search for new buyers and was not desperate to sell the club.
Mandla confirmed that a few players didn’t report for training on Wednesday. Reports suggest the whole squad didn’t report for training after the sale of the club fell through.
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