Case dismissed: Royal AM plunges deeper into trouble with the courts and PSL

IT doesn’t rain but it pours for beleaguered Durban business woman Shauwn Mkhize and her football club Royal AM, with the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday delivering another “scathing  judgment” against the two parties.

The judgment details are staggering and show that the National Soccer League (NSL) was misled on a number of occasions and that it had enough reason to expel the Pietermaritzburg-based club even prior to them (the club) going into administration. 

At the heart of the matter was Royal AM’s urgent bid to overturn the Premier Soccer League’s (PSL) decision to terminate its membership. This was dismissed by the court.

However, what unfolded in court reveals a tangled web of unpaid debts, unreported shareholding changes, FIFA-imposed bans and a complete collapse of operational stability.

Backing this judgment, the court cited that:

-Contravention of Article 14.6: Royal AM changed its shareholding and directorship in June 2023 without PSL’s prior written approval.

-Contravention of Article 10.14: The club misrepresented its directorship in its membership renewal application in July 2024.

-Contravention of Article 10.16: Royal AM was unable to fulfil its obligations, including failing to play fixtures and honour financial commitments.

All this happened before the club was put under curatorship by the South African Revenue Services (SARS) months ago due to Mkhize’s troubles with the taxman.

That came with the freezing of club accounts and therefore unable to honour their fixtures and resulting in the Board of Governors (BoG) of the NSL expelling them (the club) from the Premier Soccer League (PSL) during the 2024/2025 season.

All this comes as Royal AM are still at loggerheads with the PSL with attempts to oppose the league’s decision to expel them.

When Royal AM was confirmed to have purchased the status of Bloemfontein Celtic, reports were that it was purchased by Mkhize’s close family member by the name of Nosipho Ngubo.

That was due to Mkhize having another matter with the PSL at that time.

In the judgment, many shareholders were cited to have obtained stakes in the club as of June 2023, after Shauwn Mkhize and Andile Mpisane resigned appointing a Mr Shamish Sadab as sole director.

Last week, Royal AM were stripped of the R27 million sponsorship by the Msunduzi Municipality.

Reasons given by the municipality were that the sponsorship deal was that it would be in place on condition of the club staying in the PSL.