What the Siya crew has been told…

According to numerous Siya sources, as many as 10 players – possibly even more – could be reluctant to move to Limpopo should the sale of Bidvest Wits to Masala Mulaudzi go through in the coming weeks and if the club is relocated.

It was reported by the Siya crew last week that the businessman, who last month confirmed that he has sold the status of his GladAfrica Championship outfit, had edged ever closer to buying Wits with a multimillion rand security fee.

But while players remain in the dark, there are now question marks over whether they will relocate to Thohoyandou next season, where it is believed that Masala wants to launch the club as the new owner and rename it.

There are indications that he could request to rename the club Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila FC, should it fall in line with the NSL’s regulations and rules.

The PSL’s executive committee still has to ratify the sale for it to be confirmed – however, there’s a rule in the NSL handbook that could throw a spanner in the works. Article 14.4 of the rule book restricts Masala from buying another club when he has been an owner or shareholder of another in the year preceding the new transactions.

But that hasn’t stopped similar deals in the past!

Key indicators of why the club is being sold are the changes taking place at the Bidvest Group. Bidvest, the club’s title sponsor and owners, have confirmed that they could retrench some of their employees to “keep it competitive in a changing environment”. It’s thought that their share price could drop by 20 percent from the previous year at the end of June.

This time last year, The Clever Boys retrenched staff and cut costs as they aligned with their revised budget, which was reduced significantly. The financial impact of the Coronavirus pandemic will no doubt have worsened the situation and put the future of the team in doubt – hence the sale.

Wits’ big-name players - amongst them Thulani Hlatshwayo, Sifiso Hlanti, Buhle Mkhwanazi, Thabang Monare, Cole Alexander, Deon Hotto and Gift Motupa - all have at least a year still to run on their respective contracts and it is understood the club could look to cash in on them as they are not expected to relocate if the sale goes through.

Last week, the Siya crew broke the news that Hotto is being targeted by Sundowns, joining Hlatshwayo on the club’s radar, who has been linked to the Brazilians for some time. However, Downs is not the only club keen on Hlatshwayo and Hotto…

Orlando Pirates are also keen on the duo!

It was subsequently reported by the Siya crew last week Friday that attacker, Hashim Domingo, had been added to the list of Sundowns targets and that a deal between Wits and Downs has been agreed to in principle for Hlatshwayo, Hotto and Domingo.

It is believed that the transfer fee for the trio that has been agreed to in principle is worth a whopping R17 million in total!

However, the respective players are yet to agree to the proposed offers and, like all deals, they will only be ratified once, and if, all three parties agree on the terms – the three parties being Wits as the selling club, Downs as the buying club and the respective players.

Don’t expect any confirmations just yet. All players have been instructed by the Wits management to not discuss “speculation of the sale” in any of their interviews with the media, which Siya sources have indicated has brought about more confusion and uncertainty.

Gavin Hunt, the Wits coach who ended the club’s championship drought after 96 years of existence, warned in August that their tight budget could hurt any chance of repeating their achievement from three years ago.

His words – long before the deadly virus pandemic – are quickly becoming a reality.

“It’s South Africa‚ isn’t it? It’s the economy in the country,” he was quoted as saying prior to the kick-off of the 2019/ 20 season. At the time, The Clever Boys had retrenched staff and allowed players whose contracts were coming to an end to leave as free agents.

“People are losing jobs. Companies are cutting back everywhere. And it’s understandable. We are working in tough times. And football‚ obviously‚ is an industry where you will pull the plug first. I don’t know the ins and outs. But obviously things have been cut‚ and people have left for financial reasons. But I’ve got to worry about what’s going on, on the field.”

Will Bidvest Group “pull the plug” on football first given they confirmed in a statement last week that “the operating environment remains very uncertain for the balance of the financial year and forecasting is impractical” as a result of COVID-19?

The likelihood is that if the company was already scaling down on the football investment long before the current climate, you can expect them to continue to make adjustments now that they are battling the impact of the virus, the country’s weak economy and a decline of their share price.

What does this mean for a squad of top professional players and how will they be impacted?

You can expect the club to cash in on player transfers in what will be a fire sale from the oldest club in Mzansi’s topflight. A lot will be dictated by the agreement between the sellers and the new buyers, but you can bet your bottom dollar that for Bidvest, it will be all business.