Safa member wants all fraud allegations to be investigated
Disgruntled insiders in South African football are calling for reform at Safa amid growing evidence of irregular spending. By
Leadership at the South African Football Association (Safa) was limping, and had become a law unto itself, with little or no regard for the constitution and the statutes governing the organisation, flouting at every turn every rule in the book to the detriment of the progress of football in the country, a source at the organisation said this week.
With alleged corruption and misgovernance at its pinnacle, and huge sums of money allegedly paid to Safa national executive committee (NEC) members “in order to ensure the president [Danny
Jordaan] gets re-elected”, the source said, “it is extremely important that the organisation be investigated as soon as possible”.
The source said they hoped that the ongoing investigation into malfeasance at Safa being undertaken by the Hawks “would bear good fruits for
Safa”, stating that
“everything illegal to keep the president in power must be pursued with vigour”.
“The purchasing of Mercedes-Benz sedans for NEC members and the ‘bribing’ of [the] NEC with R20,000 should be investigated.”
Colonel Katlego Mogale, spokesperson for the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks), told two weeks ago that the “prosecution-led” investigation was probing alleged malfeasance at Safa.
Turning to unethical challenges at Safa, the source said: “The choice of cars for the NEC members is consistent with the notion that they are superior or belong to the elite class of officials deserving of higher quality of emoluments in return for their hard work.”
The source argued that “such a waste of money and resources”, coupled with the reality of a struggling national association unable to attract viable sponsorship, should not only be frowned upon “but should result in tougher action taken against the president and his lackeys.
“We need to go to the next elective congress to remedy the situation by electing a leadership that will be committed to improving the quality of football in the country. Anything short of this will be a betrayal to the game
of football.”
Fifa loan
The latest “debilitating piece of news” that had recently surfaced, said the source, was the allegation that the national football association had taken a loan of $5-million, an equivalent of R75-million, from Fifa, which is to be reimbursed at the rate of $1.5-million a year.
“This is what a failing organisation does.
“It can’t manage its finances because it splurges the little it has on nonessentials. Now we don’t have money, the organisation needs to be bailed out by Fifa loans,” the source said.
“Safa needs to be urgently reformed, and it should start with the organisation investing in good leadership. There are good leaders in the organisation, but [they] have been marginalised by leaders who are bent on self-serving, and of using the organisation as their fiefdom.
“We trust that in the next elective congress, dead wood will be removed,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
The source added that “the implications of the Fifa loan are serious, which is that for the next four years Safa will not receive its yearly grant from Fifa, as they will have to first service the loan, possibly with interest. This must also mean that the development of football in the country will somehow be undermined.
“Already the LFAs (Local Football Associations) are struggling to keep their [heads] above water, unable to develop football in their areas, some of which are in deep rural areas, even as they pay their subscriptions diligently without fail, yet there is nothing to show for it.
“Safa’s funds are disbursed to fund individuals’ lifestyles, and NEC members whose palms are greased with money and other incentives so that their allegiance gets more inclined towards supporting the president, rather than [supporting] the development of football in the country. It is just a mess of unaccountability that we are witnessing at Safa,” said the source.
DM168 sent messages to the top leaders of the organisation – chief executive officer Tebogo Motlanthe, the head of legal Poobie Govindasamy, Danny Jordaan and his personal assistant, Tshikani Baloyi – for comments on allegations, but received no response.
The source revealed that while Safa offices were closed for the December holidays last year, payments of R20,000 were made to each of the NEC members, without the approval of the NEC.
“As I understand it, only one member of the NEC declined to receive the money. The rest gladly accepted the money. One has to wonder why these payments were made after the Safa offices were closed,” said the source.
These cash payments were allegedly made on 23 December.
“What do you call this gesture of goodwill from the president of Safa? We suspect it is a gratuity meant to buy votes that will help him to get re-elected in the upcoming elective elections,” said the source.
DM168 this week in writing posed questions to Jordaan and the organisation’s chief executive officer, regarding claims of malfeasance. But these were not answered.
The source further claimed that Jordaan had formed “a cult around him”.
“Jordaan and some of his NEC members each help one another to get elected by serving as electoral officers for each other. This is what is happening currently where head office staff, the NEC members go around the country to make certain that undeserving individuals [return] to power…
“This is a total state of disaster prevailing at Safa, where every rule or provision of the constitution is ignored.”
Asked about the new governance committee touted to come into effect at the next Safa ordinary congress scheduled for 26 March, recently announced by Govindasamy, the source said it would be illegal to have any such structure “because it is not in the constitution.
“We do not have such a committee in our constitution. Any committee must be approved by congress, and so let us wait for the congress and see what happens,” said the source.
When Govindasamy was asked to respond to the allegation that Safa could be acting illegally by instituting a legal committee, he referred DM168 to Motlanthe, who did not respond to our question regarding the establishment of a governance committee. DM168
This is what a failing organisation does. It can’t manage its finances because it splurges the little it has on nonessentials.
Now … the organisation needs to be bailed out by Fifa loans