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The sale of Ticketpro, the ticketing business once owned by Mark and Brett Levy's Blu Label Unlimited, has come under scrutiny after an investigation found that the buyers have close ties to the political circle of South Africa's sport minister, Gayton McKenzie.
Blu Label, the Johannesburg-listed technology group run by the Levy brothers, sold Ticketpro in May to what it described as a women-owned black economic empowerment consortium. Ticketpro sells tickets for Cricket South Africa and the South African Football Association, and it appears set to handle ticketing for the 2027 Men's Cricket World Cup, which South Africa will co-host with Zimbabwe and Namibia.
A month-long Daily Maverick investigation, published on Monday, found that several people linked to McKenzie and his Patriotic Alliance party have emerged at the center of the business since the sale.
Blu Label said the buyer approached it with an unsolicited bid and described the deal as an arm's-length sale. It has not disclosed the buyer's identity, the price or the terms, citing confidentiality provisions in the agreement. Its 2025-2026 annual financial statements record a net outflow of R35 million linked to the disposal. The company told Daily Maverick it had no knowledge of the political affiliations or other interests of the people behind the consortium.
McKenzie's former chief of staff takes over
Bakang Lethoko, who served as McKenzie's chief of staff from August to November 2024 and later chaired the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture's steering committee for a Formula One bid, became Ticketpro's chief executive in June. Lethoko told Daily Maverick that the chief of staff role ended well before joining Ticketpro.
A new holding company, Ticketpro Group, was registered in August. Its directors are Astrid Harrison, Omphemetse Mokgosi and marketing professional Zanele Dube. Speaking for the group, Harrison confirmed that all three are now Ticketpro shareholders.
Harrison has described herself as a member of the Patriotic Alliance. McKenzie appointed Mokgosi to the boards of the National Film and Video Foundation and the National Arts Council, both of which report to his department.
Daily Maverick said it found no evidence that McKenzie intervened in the sale or in Ticketpro's dealings with sports bodies. McKenzie, his party and the new owners have denied any wrongdoing, and the minister has rejected suggestions that he could influence commercial decisions that benefit the company.
The sale adds to wider criticism of McKenzie's appointments. The Democratic Alliance, a partner in South Africa's governing coalition, has referred to the Public Protector its finding that 19 people linked to McKenzie or his party have been appointed to the boards of entities reporting to his department over the past two years.
What the World Cup is worth
The financial stakes are modest by the standards of a world cup. About 409,000 general-access tickets at an average of around R250 each would bring in roughly R102 million, according to estimates cited by Daily Maverick. Ticketpro's fee of about 4% would come to roughly R4.1 million, or about $246,000. Neither Cricket South Africa nor the tournament's local organizing committee had publicly confirmed Ticketpro's appointment by Monday.
The business also sells tickets for concerts, festivals and other sporting events, and has annual turnover of about R100 million, according to a source cited by Daily Maverick.
A smaller Blu Label
The sale is part of the Levy brothers' push to focus Blu Label on its core businesses. They founded the group in 2001 and built it into one of South Africa's largest distributors of prepaid airtime, electricity and other everyday services. Blu Label also holds a large stake in mobile operator Cell C.
In August, Blu Label reported a R4.9 billion loss for its latest financial year after writing down the value of its Cell C investment, though it remained profitable before that charge.
The brothers have continued to back their own company. Last week, Mark and Brett Levy bought R75.5 million of Blu Label shares, according to ITWeb.
Daily Maverick has said its Ticketpro report is the first in an investigative series, with more on the deal to follow.
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