CAUGHT OUT: JSE-listed Blu Label mum on ownership details in McKenzie-linked Ticketpro takeover

The exact ownership details of a new empowerment group that quietly bought Ticketpro from Blu Label Unlimited, a telecommunications group listed on the JSE, remain shrouded in mystery. This comes as a month-long Daily Maverick investigation detailed the involvement in the transaction of several women linked to Minister of Sport Gayton McKenzie and his political party, the Patriotic Alliance (PA), raising concerns over alleged political influence in SA’s lucrative sport and culture economy.Daily Maverick revealed on Monday that Bakang Lethoko, McKenzie’s former chief of staff at the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC), became Ticketpro’s new CEO after Blu Label sold its former subsidiary to an “empowerment consortium” linked to the PA. Blu Label’s head office in Sandton. The group sold Ticketpro to a women-owned consortium with links to Sport Minister Gayton McKenzie and the Patriotic Alliance. (Photo: Felix Dlangamandla) Blu Label says it sold Ticketpro to the consortium in May this year. Lethoko became the company’s sole director in June. A new corporate structure, Ticketpro Group – whose directors include a self-proclaimed PA member – was formed in August.Given that Ticketpro Group was registered only after the deal was concluded, it is unclear whether this entity now holds all Ticketpro’s shares, or whether there are other entities or individuals involved in the transaction.‘Why must you do a story like that?’ None of the parties involved in the transaction was willing to provide exact details of Ticketpro’s new ownership structure. Andrew Duffield, a Blu Label executive and Ticketpro’s former CEO, referred us to Kavir Kistnasamy, Ticketpro’s chief financial officer (CFO). We made several attempts to get hold of Kistnasamy, but he ignored our phone calls and failed to respond to text messages.Ticketpro’s former CEO, Brandon Duffield. (Photo: Facebook) Duffield, meanwhile, said he had no idea that his successor, Lethoko, and the other PA-linked individuals involved in the takeover were linked to McKenzie and his party.“I haven’t met Bakang (in person) and only once when she was on a Teams call. I don’t have a clue who ‘they’ are,” he said about Ticketpro’s new shareholders. Pressed on the political undertones that seem to mark the Ticketpro takeover, Duffield asked, “Why must you do a story like that?”Making SensBlu Label said it wasn’t in a position to divulge the identity of Ticketpro’s new owner.“As is usual in private transactions of this nature, the sale agreement includes confidentiality undertakings that bind both Blu Label and the purchaser.”“Having disposed of its entire shareholding and retained no commercial or governance involvement in the business, Blu Label is not in a position to comment on Ticketpro’s present ownership structure, directorships or activities,” added the group.As a listed entity, Blu Label has to report significant corporate decisions on the JSE’s Stock Exchange News Service (Sens), but the group said the Ticketpro disposal did not constitute a “categorisable transaction in line with the JSE Listing Requirements”.Mark and Brett Levy, founders and joint CEOs of Blu Label. (Photo: YouTube) “Given the size of the transaction relative to Blu Label, it fell below the thresholds at which a transaction becomes categorisable and would require announcement. Accordingly, Blu Label was under no obligation to publish a Sens announcement in respect of the disposal,” explained the group. Cricket dealsThe first instalment in Daily Maverick’s Caught Out series detailed how Ticketpro’s new owners acquired the business during and ahead of potentially lucrative periods.Ticketpro is the official ticketing partner to Cricket South Africa (CSA). Tickets for the Proteas’ bumper home summer season are currently available through the company.What’s more, all indications are that Ticketpro has won the contract to become the ticketing vendor for the 2027 Men’s Cricket World Cup.McKenzie, meanwhile, has regulatory and oversight powers that directly affect CSA, raising questions about commercial dealings between the governing body and a ticketing platform now owned by PA-linked individuals.The minister said it was not within his power to influence procurement decisions.Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie. (Photo: EPA / Kim Ludbrook) Blu Label denied that Ticketpro’s work with CSA influenced in any way its decision to sell its former subsidiary.“Ticketpro’s longstanding commercial relationship with Cricket South Africa did not influence the Group’s decision to dispose of the business. It did not feature in the rationale for the disposal, nor in the negotiation of the transaction.”Blu Label explained that Ticketpro previously consisted of two distinct businesses. A transport ticketing division, “the most commercially viable and consistently profitable operating unit within Ticketpro”, remains within the Blu Label Group.Ticketpro’s sport and events ticketing business was sold to the women-owned consortium in question.Ticketpro’s new CEO, Bakang Lethoko, Sport Minister Gayton McKenzie’s former chief of staff. (Photo: Facebook) The latter business was “sub-scale, had no strategic fit with the Group’s distribution model, and did not justify the continued allocation of Group capital and management resources relative to its contribution,” stated the group.Blu Label was adamant that it had disclosed sufficient information on the Ticketpro sale. “... to the extent that Blu Label, as a publicly listed entity, has been required to disclose the requisite commercial terms of the transaction, you will no doubt have seen these in its recent financial reporting to the public and will include this information in any article you publish.”According to the group’s 2025/2026 Annual Financial Statements, Ticketpro was sold on 31 May 2026 for an amount of R5-million. The transaction brought about a net outflow of R35-million, according to the group’s latest Consolidated Financial Statements. DMThis is the second instalment in Daily Maverick’s Caught Out series. Upcoming reports will shed further light on the Ticketpro transaction and related matters. Follow the series here.If you know more about this story, tip us off here.