DANCING WITH ‘MAMKHIZE’

Photos: BackpagePix | Instagram By: WILLEM PHUNGULA | HERMAN GIBBS

Royal AM owner Shauwn Mkhize has taken the Premier Soccer League by storm.

NOT since the late Abdul Bhamjee has the Premier Soccer League had such a flamboyant character within their ranks as businesswoman and television personality Shauwn “MaMkhize” Mkhize.

The Royal AM owner is the enfant terrible of South African soccer at the moment and her escapades on and off the field has frazzled the PSL.

But where has she come from?

Mkhize was born into and raised by a politically active family in Umbumbulu, a village near Amanzimtoti.

Her late parents, Sipho and Florence Mkhize, were both ANC activists during apartheid, with her father allegedly killed by a policeman in 1991. The tragedy was followed a year later by the death of her brother, Sbu Mkhize, killed in a shoot-out with police in Isipingo.

Upon her mother’s death in 2008, Mkhize inherited a small company called Zikhulise Construction, which she has transformed into a hugely successful business on the basis of tenders gained for the building of RDP houses in eThekwini and KwaDukuza. Zikhulise Construction is now the foundation of her multimillion-rand empire which, according to online celebrity publication Zalebs, has a net worth of R300 million.

She has not, though, been able to keep out of the headlines for the wrong reasons. In 2012 she was arrested for allegedly trying to bribe an investigating officer who was probing her for alleged tax evasion. The charges have since been withdrawn, although Sars claimed in 2016 that Mkhize and her ex-husband, Sbu Mpisane, with who she still shares a luxury La Lucia home, owed R141 million in taxes.

Mkhize’s football career has been equally colourful as she faces charges for bringing the PSL into disrepute for allegedly making racist and sexist comments regarding high court Judge Roland Sutherland’s ruling after Royal AM’s no-shows for the four promotion/ relegation matches.

Her latest escapade could land her in hot water again, although this could be sooner rather than later after her cash-in-transit shenanigans at Chatsworth Stadium.

Mkhize and her son, Royal AM chairperson Andile Mpisane, joined the players on the pitch after the final whistle in the recent KwaZulu-Natal derby against Maritzburg United. Mpisane was armed with a large brown envelope containing bundles of R200 notes, which he proceeded to hand out to the players in full view of the cameras.

Royal AM have not confirmed what the money was for, but speculation was rife that it was a team bonus after they had pulled off a smash-and-grab win with a last-minute goal.

The video immediately went viral on social media with a slew of comments suggesting it was merely a stunt by Mkhize and Mpisane to show off their filthy rich status, although this would not have been necessary after Dstv’s Mzansi Magic aired her reality show, KwaMaMkhize last year, where she flaunted her bling lifestyle that consists of a fleet of cars such as a RollsRoyce Cullinan, Bentley Continental GT, Lamborghini Urus, Mercedes Benz G-Wagon, Mercedes Maybach Limited Edition and a BMW i8.

With Mkhize seemingly not going anywhere any time soon, her dalliance with the PSL seems set to be just another episode in the real-life show of MaMkhize

Shauwn Mkhize is not afraid to flaunt her bling lifestyle.

TOP: Mkhize and son, Royal AM chairperson Andile Mpisane, celebrate winning the GladAfrica Championship.