Cost-cutting Safa to pay R8.6m to itself

• Nation’s football controlling-body writes off R50m it owes its regions but keeps honorarium

SA Football Association’s (Safa) national executive committee has written off about R50m owed to Safa’s regions‚ but not the R8.64m honorarium owed to committee members.

At the weekend, the committee decided to write off an amount that varies marginally for Safa’s 52 regions but averages about R1m a region‚ and which has been unpaid for two years‚ it is believed.

Yet it did not write off an honorarium of R120‚000 for the years 2017 and 2018 that cashstrapped Safa owes national executive committee members. That amounts to R240‚000 owed to 36 committee members for a total of R8.64m.

Safa cannot pay that amount at present‚ so it remains a credit.

The regions no longer have such a credit‚ and concerns have been expressed about the lack of funding that will affect their dayto-day administration‚ coaches’ education programmes and the junior leagues they run.

An honorarium is a payment made for work done on a voluntary basis.

It is normally a token payment in recognition of services rendered and is supposed to be made when an organisation has the money to pay it.

Safa communications director Dominic Chimhavi said the honorarium had been reduced by 50%, but could not explain how. “The honorarium was actually cut by half. People should tell you the truth. You are being given half-baked stories‚” Chimhavi said.

“They [the national executive committee] agreed on Saturday that they will be paid half of it, 50%. All your facts are very wrong,” he said.

Asked to elaborate on how the facts were wrong‚ Chimhavi responded: “No‚ because now you write your story from your sources‚ and you will just file your story.”

The national executive committee members’ honorarium for 2019 was apparently put on hold at the last Safa annual general meeting in December‚ to be resolved at a special general meeting in June‚ but that was derailed by the coronavirus.

The writing off of the debt to the regions comes after sources pointed out that the 18 provincial technical officers installed in the country’s nine provinces by technical director Neil Tovey have been removed as a costcutting measure.

The sources expressed concern that the removal of the provincial technical officers — who include coaches responsible for coaching education and ensuring junior leagues run smoothly — will cripple Safa’s development capability.

Chimhavi has denied the provincial technical officers have been removed.

He said new acting CEO Tebogo Motlanthe is negotiating to renew their contracts.