Reel in Fifa answers
SIR — Our newly appointed national director of public prosecutions, advocate Shaun Abrahams, should know better than to express irritation in public at what he describes as a “fishing expedition” by his counterpart, the US attorney-general, regarding the Fifa corruption scandal and how it applies to SA.
Media reports imply that Abrahams can see nothing wrong with the transfer of $10m by Fifa via the South African Football Association (Safa) to an account controlled by Jack Warner, in a sole and personal fiduciary capacity, while Mr Warner was still vicepresident of Fifa.
This raises questions about conflicts of interest and accountability mechanisms at Fifa and Safa. Abrahams should use his prosecutorial powers and, if necessary, the police’s investigative powers, to elicit answers to the following questions from Safa and the South African government:
1. Was the “formal agreement” covering the transfer to Warner, as was suggested by Danny Jordaan of Safa, ever drawn up and signed by all interested parties? If not, why not?
2. If so, was Fifa a party to the agreement and why has no copy of it been published in the interests of openness and accountability (both foundational values of the new SA)?
3. What precise fiduciary responsibilities and duties were placed on Warner in terms of the agreement, or were understood to be in place at the time of transfer of the funds?
4. What checks and balances were put in place to ensure that Warner performed his obligations properly by using the funds solely for the African diaspora legacy programme and not for any other purpose?
5. What steps did Safa, the South African government and Fifa take to ensure that the programme was real and that the money involved was properly spent on the programme?
6. When Warner resigned from Fifa under a cloud of suspected corruption, what was done to ensure the future of the programme and what steps were taken to obtain an accounting from Warner by Safa and the South African government for his fiduciary performance up until the time he resigned?
If Abrahams, as SA’s chief prosecutor, is able to elicit domestically, and to place on record internationally, satisfactory answers to these simple questions, his investigation will go a part of the way towards restoring the credibility of all involved, especially Jordaan, who is now a political office bearer and should be “squeaky clean”. The converse applies.
Paul Hoffman SC Director, Accountability Now