Explosive letter suggests tensions at Safa
Tension appears to be mounting between SA Football Association (Safa) president Danny Jordaan and former acting CEO Gay Mokoena after an explosive letter suggested the battle lines have been drawn between the two men.
Mokoena made serious allegations in the leaked letter, which has been seen by TimesLIVE, accusing Jordaan of running the financially ailing organisation like his own fiefdom‚ flouting corporate governance principles and violating Safa’s statutes‚ among other allegations.
In the letter, which was circulated to members of Safa and the footballing body’s council‚ Mokoena said his actions were not motivated by sour grapes after he had to leave his post this month.
“It is important to mention that I am not raising these issues because I have sour grapes as the president [Jordaan] requested me to vacate the acting CEO position on 15 April 2020.
“Some of my colleagues would know that I exited the jobs market 22 years ago.
“I am raising these issues because ‘our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter’ (Dr Martin Luther King Jnr).
“More so‚ I have a fiduciary duty to the association as a member of the NEC‚” Mokoena wrote.
He said the positions of CEO and secretary-general were enshrined in Safa’s constitution and were vital to the functioning of the organisation.
“This means that‚ at the moment‚ Safa is violating its own constitution by not having a permanent CEO or an acting CEO.
“It is not an issue who this person is.
“There should be always a CEO (or an acting CEO) and a president (or an acting president) at Safa.
“There cannot be a vacuum for these positions.”
Mokoena acted as Safa’s CEO from November 1 until his contract came to an end on April 15.
He could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Safa president Jordaan and the association’s spokesperson, Dominic Chimhavi, were also not immediately available for comment.
The complaints raised by Mokoena against the Safa president included:
• Jordaan did not have the power to appoint or dismiss a CEO‚ COO and/or CFO‚ therefore he had violated Clause 37.3 of the Safa constitution;
• He failed to recommend to the NEC the appointment of an acting CEO‚ leaving the organisation without a head of the general secretariat;
• He appointed the CFO to also act as the acting CEO or, alternatively, as a supervisor or contact person or co-ordinator — positions that do not exist at Safa — and he did not have the power and/or authority to do so;
• He instructed the acting CEO to ignore legal procedure to rationalise staff‚ in other words he gave the acting CEO an illegal instruction;
• He dismissed staff without the approval of the NEC; and
• He appointed a member of the NEC, Mxolisi Sibam‚ chair of the audit and risk committee, to do consulting work at the association without the necessary approval from the NEC. —