State denies funding Mbau, Zodwa boxing extravaganza

“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 be followed to apply for the funding,” said director of sports and recreation Bhutini Ngoma.

He said while the national department had allocated about R350,000 for his department’s programmes aimed at empowering boxers. They [department] had not yet allocated the funds to any project due to budget cuts. 

“We also explained to them [Nododile] 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,” said Ngoma.

Emalahleni local municipality, which was also listed as a sponsor on the poster, said it knew nothing about the event and was hearing about it for the first time when Sowetan called on Tuesday. 

“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,” said municipal spokesperson Lebogang Mofokeng.   

Lunga Nkonyeni from the casino said while they were aware of the event, an agreement was yet to be signed. 

“It’s a conversation between us and the organiser in terms of the venue, however, we are still ironing out the rest of the stuff. But we are aware of the event,” said Nkonyeni.

 Last year, Nododile was linked to a Durban boxing event saga featuring American superstar Floyd Mayweather that had to be cancelled after allegations that his company J4Joy had not paid the American what it promised him. 

On Tuesday, Nododile insisted that all the listed entities for the Women In Boxing event were sponsors and that he had proof of their commitments. When asked for proof, he promised to send it, but later said he would need permission from Boxing SA to share it . 

“In eMalahleni I spoke to the mayor. I called him a few minutes ago and he was still in council, but I was dealing with him through his PA,” he told Sowetan.

A company search by Sowetan showed Nododile’s Infinity International Boxing was in the process of being deregistered with Companies and Intellectual Property Commission for failure to pay annual fees while J4Joy was not a registered entity.

Noma Zuma, the founder of Mpesu Gin, who is also listed as a sponsor of the event, said she knew Nododile personally and was ready to do business with him when he approached her to partner in the event. 

“He showed me a list of people he was in talks with and they include a broadcaster. Our contribution to the event was going to be in logistics and marketing and we found the proposal to be very attractive and a big opportunity for us to contribute in women boxing.

“We do not have an agreement with Nododile yet but we do not have intentions of pulling out because he is a small businessman and people make mistakes and we can’t just judge him based on his past,” said Zuma.

The CEO of Boxing SA, Nsikayezwe Sithole, said it endorsed the tournament and gave Nododile money to host it. However, he warned Nododile against using the logos of potential sponsors.

“The engagements with the department and us are still ongoing. We have reached out to them and they responded from time to time and there would be meeting and those would be postponed.

“The promoter will remove the logos of the entities with whom we are still negotiating with. But the tournament will continue with the sponsors who have agreed. It is wrong for the promoter to use the logos of people who have not confirmed, but there will be a tournament.”