After months of speculation and initial denials, South African broadcaster SuperSport have confirmed the sale of Betway Premiership club SuperSport United to Siwelele Football Club (Pty) Ltd., pending approval from the PSL Executive Committee.
If the sale is approved, the club will relocate to Bloemfontein. Reports suggest Siwelele are trying to hold onto as much of the SuperSport United backroom structure as possible, as they attempt to combine Matsatsantsa's academy with Bloemfontein Celtic's fan base. The jury is still out on whether or not that can materialise.
The sale would mean that the only clubs to have survived the last 12 years in the Premiership without any relegation, promotion, location changes and/or buying and selling of top-flight status would be the 'big three' of Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns.
SuperSport United are the fourth most successful club in the Premier Soccer League (PSL) era, behind only the big three. They won three Premiership titles back-to-back under current Durban City head coach Gavin Hunt in 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10.
The three Gauteng giants are the best-supported clubs in the country. Sundowns, who have won the last eight Premiership titles, have the backing of the Motsepe family. Billionaire owner Patrice Motsepe handed the presidency of the club to son Tlhopane in 2021, following his own successful bid for the CAF presidency.
Chiefs and Pirates - while not backed by quite the same wealth in terms of ownership - are the two best-supported clubs in the country, giving them significant leverage to strike lucrative commercial deals.
It is unlikely that we will see any of the three biggest clubs in South Africa evaporate in the near future. However, the fact that even their biggest competitors are toppling all around them raises serious concerns for the sustainability of South Africa's football pyramid in its current form.
Moroka Swallows - one of the former top clubs in South Africa whose rivalry with Orlando Pirates predated the existence of Chiefs and Sundowns - have fallen out of the professional ranks, bought their way back in under new ownership, then cashed in all over again, selling their status to Marumo Gallants.
Bidvest Wits - the last club to win the league before Sundowns' run of eight in a row - sold their PSL status in 2020.
SuperSport as a talent pipeline
Like Wits, SuperSport United had a youth structure which produced much of the country's top talent. Current Bafana Bafana skipper Ronwen Williams is perhaps the most notable graduate of the current generation, though one could also make a case for Kermit Erasmus, given that he has yet to call time on his playing career.
Star Sundowns and Bafana Bafana midfielder Teboho Mokoena is another, as well as Brugge winger Shandre Campbell and CR Belouizdad forward Khanyisa Mayo. The likes of Aubrey Modiba, Luke le Roux, Grant Kekana and Patrick Maswanganyi arrived in the club's ranks later in their development but first came to prominence in SuperSport United's first team before moving on to established clubs elsewhere.
In recent years, SuperSport United have kept a tight lid on spending amid financial restructuring at their parent company and post-COVID budgetary challenges for South African football, with Stellenbosch FC creeping into the position in the market which Matsatsantsa once fought with Bidvest Wits for - a club which can develop its talent, sell it on and reinvest wisely to remain competitive even against the big three.
The question remains: how long can any club hold this position - a crucial one for the South African football pyramid - before ultimately having to sell like Bidvest Wits and SuperSport United, or falling into oblivion like Ajax Cape Town.
The latter eventually reverted to Cape Town Spurs following management disputes and the withdrawal of their former majority shareholders in the Netherlands.
Are Bloemfontein Celtic back in the PSL?
The only potential positive from the sale of SuperSport United is the possible revival of Bloemfontein's football fandom - famously loyal to Bloemfontein Celtic before they sold their status to the now-expelled Durban club Royal AM in 2021.
Siwelele was Bloemfontein Celtic's nickname, with the new club attempting to draw links with the team that once captured the hearts of a city and had supporters donning its green and white colours across the country.
However, Bloemfontein Celtic themselves are not making a return, and opinions are split over whether or not Siwelele's potential entry into the top-flight marks a true revival for the fanbase.
Some on social media have welcomed Siwelele with open arms. However, Marumo Gallants already play in Bloemfontein without the backing Celtic once boasted, while ownership of the name 'Bloemfontein Celtic' is in the hands of businessman Edward Modise.
This has caused confusion, with former player Kleinbooi Taaibos telling Kick Off: "I was never fully convinced by this Siwelele and Marumo concept, but it was a good initiative and beneficial for us people from the Free State.
"However, the name Bloemfontein Celtic will forever be engraved in our hearts. Even though owning the club's certificate doesn't make you the real Bloemfontein Celtic; the certificate doesn't play football. We all know the background story behind the ownership of that certificate.
"The status was sold to [Royal AM's Shauwn Mkhize], but not the certificate. That's what has created the mess we find ourselves in. As someone who joined Celtic at the young age of 19, it makes my heart bleed.
"Siwelele Football Club aims to restore the original essence of football in the Free State. However, there's a dilemma: Modise currently holds the ownership of the name. He should collaborate with the Siwelele Football Club leaders so that we can revive our team in Bloemfontein.
"Everyone wants to see the revival of the giant that is Bloemfontein Celtic, but someone without the status is holding onto the name."
Siwelele: The link to sports minister Gayton McKenzie
South Africa's Minister of Sports, Arts & Culture Gayton McKenzie's son, Calvyn Le'John (29), is the owner of Siwelele FC.
Per City Press, McKenzie has added credence to rumours that the purchase price of the club was around R50 million, saying: "I think so," regarding whether or not that was correct.
McKenzie pledged that his son would invest R400 million (around US$22.7 million) into building a "football city" in Bloemfontein. He was quoted as saying: "He's also putting in R400 million to build a football city in Bloemfontein.
"He's talking to a bank that will assist him. SuperSport United had a marvellous academy in Gauteng. We want to replicate that in Bloemfontein."
Le'John is listed as a director of Anaconda Vape, XConcepts Publications and Mangaung Chicken Consortium. As per the CIPC, McKenzie resigned as a director of XConcepts last August, shortly after being appointed as a minister.
McKenzie was convicted of armed robbery in the mid-1990s. He rose to prominence for his role in exposing prison corruption shortly prior to his 2003 release.
He was one of the "Grootvlei Four" who secretly filmed a video inside Grootvlei Prison showing evidence of prison warders enabling the sexual abuse of juveniles, purchasing chickens stolen from the prison kitchen, selling drugs and weapons to prisoners and drinking alcohol with them.
This exposé was instrumental to the Jali Commission of Inquiry into corruption and maladministration within South Africa's Department of Correctional Services.
After his release, McKenzie became a businessman and motivational speaker, and he co-founded the Patriotic Alliance in 2013 - serving as its president since then. Last year, they became part of South Africa's Government of National Unity after the ruling African National Congress lost its majority and turned to smaller parties for help forming a government.
Explaining his son's acquisition of the funds to back Siwelele, McKenzie was quoted as saying: "We are a fairly wealthy family. We have interests in mining, transportation, hotels and publishing.
"My son took over the ownership of all the family businesses before I was appointed as a minister. As ministers, we are not allowed to be involved in any private business."
Pressed about the source of his son's funds, he was quoted as saying: "All our family businesses have been given to him. He grew up in money. He grew up in business. People will say he is so young; where does he get the money? White kids at 29 have businesses, but you don't ask where they get the money."
Reaction from former Celtic and SuperSport players
Former Bloemfontein Celtic and SuperSport United winger Mark Mayambela believes that while there is work to do in restoring Siwelele to the heights of his former club, positive steps have been taken.
Mayambela, now coaching Cape Town City's under-16s, enjoyed a special relationship with the Celtic fans. Despite having been part of one of the best Orlando Pirates teams of all-time, he told ESPN that his happiest memories as a player were in Bloemfontein.
On his time at Celtic, Mayambela said: "I think it was maybe the highlight of my career if I had to choose one. I played probably my best games [and had] my best time. I think all of this was influenced by the love and support that I got from the club, the management, the players, and especially the supporters as well.
"For me, it also showed that when you feel loved and cared for, you get to do things better. That's what happened in my career at Celtic. It's a special place to me. I established lifelong family and friends. There are still people that are older now that I still speak to."
On the emergence of Siwelele, Mayambela said: "Everyone that is involved with the new club that is going to be in Bloem - they feel the pain of the people. They feel dearly the absence of a [top] club [in the region]."
On the new club's relationship with the supporters he loves so dearly, Mayambela said: "I can see now, they also want to use the green and white colours. They are calling themselves Siwelele, which is what people from Bloem identify with...
"I'm sure also, the naming rights thing will be resolved and the original Bloemfontein Celtic will be back, but it can never be original without the supporters or the fans.
"The few people that I've spoken to are relieved that at least there is a club that will cater for them in the province - not someone that is there just to fill a void but [a club] that will be a part of the culture and the people of Bloem."
Bevan Fransman played at centre-back for SuperSport United from 2012 to 2014 and then Bloemfontein Celtic from 2014-2016 thereafter. Having also had a spell at Kaizer Chiefs from 2003-2006, he saw firsthand how Amakhosi were able to leverage their fanbase to secure commercial success and sustainability.
Meanwhile, SuperSport United's business model relied on not only a constant stream of talent, but also the broader interests of Multichoice, who own television channel group SuperSport and were thus the parent company of the SuperSport United club.*
Fransman, who now coaches the under-17s at Blue Hills United, told ESPN: "Especially post-COVID, it's come down to the economics of running our football and the sustainability of our clubs, basically. It becomes very tricky if you don't have sponsors to back you up.
"That's a massive help for our big three - Sundowns, Pirates and Chiefs. The sellability of the clubs to attract sponsors."
Of his time with Chiefs, he added: "From being part of Chiefs when I was there - I came from Europe. I was in Belgium and I came to Chiefs and the adjustment was not that difficult as a young player.
"I remember the first time I walked into Chiefs, what took me by surprise was how professional the club was and how organised everything was from kit to how they treat players - just the sheer professionalism of the club and how things were run."
Contrasting Chiefs with the business models of clubs outside the "Big Three", Fransman said: "If you look at SuperSport [United], they've had to sell countless top, top quality players just to break even or to balance the books a bit, if you want to call it that.
"From their side, the business model or the way they handled the club, [seemed to be]: 'Do well. If you do well, people are going to start looking into your club.'
"In a way, I think they always believed they were going to produce another [Teboho] Mokoena, another Sipho Mbule, another [Shandre Campbell]. The belief was that there was always going to be another super talent coming through."
*ESPN's channels in Africa are broadcast by Multichoice