Cape Town City’s Comitis: Bidvest were entitled to sell Clever Boys

Cape Town City chairman John Comitis says people shouldn’t be complaining now that Bidvest Wits have been sold because their sponsor, Bidvest, bought it from Wits University.

The Citizens owner further explained that his club wouldn’t exist if they weren't able to acquire Premier Soccer League (PSL) status after buying Mpumalanga Black Aces back in 2016 and relocate to the Mother City.

Comitis was speaking after the sale of the Clever Boys led to contrasting views as they will now be known as Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM) as of next season, and they will relocate to the Limpopo province.

“We as Cape Town City wouldn’t have been in existence if we weren’t allowed to do what we did,” Comitis told CityPress.

“If you’re going to complain about the Wits purchase, you should have complained when Bidvest bought the club and changed their name to Bidvest Wits because then it ultimately lost its positioning, which was a Wits University team. It was more about the sponsor.

“Well, Bidvest was entitled to do so, but that’s very much a rugby model, which I think is not very good.

“For instance, you have the DHL Stormers and two seasons later, the sponsor goes and it’s called something else. The secret is in the name and I think as the PSL we should keep it in the PSL intact.”

On the other hand,  Bloemfontein Celtic have also been making headlines in recent times as they were reportedly set to be bought by TS Galaxy owner Tim Sukazi.

However, it looks the sale will not go ahead and Phunya Sele Sele will not move to Mpumalanga after a Bloemfontein-born businessman Lebo Mokoena has reportedly stepped in to rescue the club from its financial woes.

In addition, Platinum Stars were also sold to new owners, including former Wits coach Roger De Sa, and are now known as Cape Umoya United, after relocating to the Western Cape in 2018, and the former Orlando Pirates coach has echoed Comitis' sentiments.

“We have a league in which the clubs are based on a franchise model and status buying is bound to happen,” said De Sá to the same publication.

“Look at Cape Town City and [Moroka] Swallows. they have both been revived and they bought their way back. We’ve got to accept the [club] owners have the right to sell.

“When we bought Platinum Stars, we did it differently because our vision was about development and education.”