Mula Sport could be facing an over R100 million tax bill after the Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS) launched a high-level alleged tax evasion investigation involving Mula Sport, eBet, and other online gambling companies, this publication has reliably learned.
The investigation follows statements by ERS Commissioner General Brightwell Nkambule, who said during a recent press conference that more than R1 billion from the country’s tax base had not been remitted to the ERS but was nevertheless detected within the banking system.
Subsequent information gathered by this publication suggests that some online gambling companies, including MulaSport and eBet, were allegedly laundering money to offshore accounts. As a result, these companies are now reportedly subject to a tax evasion investigation.
Although Nkambule did not name specific companies in his remarks, sources indicate that foreign directors of MulaSport, eBet, and other online gambling businesses allegedly prepared loan agreements with their local companies and then transferred millions to offshore accounts—potentially evading tax in the process. Efforts to reach eBet’s legal adviser, lawyer Sibusiso Shongwe, were unsuccessful at the time of compiling this report.
When contacted for comment by this publication, MulaSport director Khaya Magagula said he was not aware of any investigation, adding that he understood there was an audit.
I am not aware of an investigation but there’s an audit, if it’s an investigation maybe they could have informed me that it’s an investigation, Magagula said.
Asked to confirm the alleged investigation, Ntobeko Dlamini, the ERS Director for Marketing and Communications, said the ERS is not able to comment on matters involving specific taxpayers. “ERS is legally and ethically bound to protect the confidentiality of all taxpayer information” and therefore cannot confirm or discuss tax or customs affairs of any individual or entity in the public domain.
The Eswatini Revenue Service (ERS) is legally and ethically bound to protect the confidentiality of all taxpayer information. As such, ERS cannot disclose, discuss, or confirm the tax or customs affairs of any individual, company, or entity in the public domain, Dlamini said.
