‘DANNY SAVED SEX PEST’
Soccer boss ‘halted probe into official’
‘Safa boss kept red card in his pocket’
As soccer boss Danny Jordaan maintains his silence following claims by singer Jennifer Ferguson that he raped her, new allegations have surfaced that he failed to act against a sex-pest employee.
The senior South African Football Association official at the centre of the scandal — whose name is known to the Sunday Times — was accused of sexually propositioning a 22-year-old male intern on two occasions in 2014. He was also accused of raping a male caterer at a Safa Christmas party in 2015.
And while Safa this week claimed action had been taken, it refused to give further details.
A source close to the 2014 incident claimed this week that Jordaan, president of Safa, had halted a disciplinary hearing against the official, telling the association’s legal team the incidents had not happened on Safa premises and they therefore had no case to pursue.
While the senior manager told the Sunday Times this week the allegations were an attempt to smear him ahead of Safa elections next year, the former intern said he had been traumatised and was disappointed at how the organisation had handled his case.
“This guy first promised to take me under his wing and groom me in the industry. [But] he did not want anything to do with me the moment I declined to participate in his sexual needs,” the former intern said.
“The first time it happened we were sleeping over at his house in Johannesburg south. We had to be at Safa House by 7am and it was going to be difficult for me to be there on time using public transportation.
“He offered me a room but . . . during the night, I woke up and he was playing with himself, he asked me to assist him. I told him I’m not that type of a guy but he carried on. The following day, I sent him messages telling him not to ever do that again in front of me.”
The intern said the official propositioned him again during a Safa referee workshop at a hotel at OR Tambo International Airport.
“This time when I refused his offer he threatened to kick me out of his department. His treatment of me changed so much that I wanted to quit. I told my mother and she escalated the matter to Jordaan.
“Safa gave me four sessions with the psychologist, the hearing was postponed many times until I left them four months later. To this day no one from Safa has given me any feedback on the matter,” he said.
In December 2015, a criminal case was opened against the Safa official after he allegedly forced himself on a male caterer at Safa’s Christmas party at Fun Valley outside Johannesburg.
The Sunday Times has seen an e-mail sent to Safa at the time by the catering company, Sebabatso Catering and Hiring Services, detailing the rape allegation and requesting a meeting with CEO Dennis Mumble.
“As they finished with the decorations very late at night it was decided that the employees will sleep over and Safa will make sleeping arrangements for the two employees,” the e-mail read.
“[The following day] one of the employees complained to the company MD that as they slept . . . [the manager] raped him and also sexually harassed [the other catering employee] as they were sharing a room with him.”
It said the two men had opened a case with police.
The senior manager told the Sunday Times the allegations were political as “Safa is approaching the 2018 elections”. He said Safa had investigated the claims by the intern and he had been found not guilty.
“There is nothing wrong with masturbation. If I had forced him to help me then it would have been another story.”
He said the NPA had declined to prosecute him on the 2015 rape charge. “I was a victim. The [catering employee] is the one who wanted to sleep with me but there was no sexual intercourse between the two of us. Instead the morning after, both boys made breakfast and we sat together and ate. No one complained about anything.”
He said he and Jordaan were “close” but denied the Safa president had ever protected him. Attempts to reach Jordaan were not successful and he did not respond to text messages.
Safa spokesman Dominic Chimhavi said staff matters were handled by Mumble. He said Safa had acted on both cases, but did not elaborate.
NPA spokeswoman Phindi Louw said there had been no prosecution in the rape case as there were discrepancies between the versions of the victim and the witness and there was “no prospect of a successful prosecution”.
There is nothing wrong with masturbation. If I had forced him to help me then it would have been another story Senior Safa official