Ban on Sis Ria latest of Safa’s famed own goals

Bruised former big guns in Ledwaba’s army, ready for war

While Safa president Danny Jordaan is galivanting about with Bafana Bafana at the Fifa Series in Algeria, Ria Ledwaba was rolling her sleeves and bringing in heavy artillery for another showdown against the national association and its president.

But one thing I can bet my last shilling on is that Jordaan, who was having a leisure time with the team in Annaba, a coastal city in northeastern Algeria, was following the events in Mzansi with keen interest.

This particular spat is likely to end up as one of the messiest fights in SA football.

Last week, out of the blue and unprovoked, Safa banned Ledwaba from all football activities after serving her with a letter declaring her a persona non-grata. This latest action from the association comes after her relentless fight for justice in the association, putting her at odds with Jordaan.

Read part of the Safa letter that CEO Lydia Monyepao wrote to Ledwaba’s team: “You have served on the national executive committee and raised several complaints during and after your term of office. You refused to accept the outcome of the elections and by your conduct including your previous litigation, which has come to nothing, you have brought Safa into disrepute. Moreover, your conduct is not in alignment with the values and standards of our association.

“After careful consideration and thorough review of recent events, the Safa national executive committee has decided that you are to be declared persona non grata within our organisation. In other words, you are disqualified from all and every football and football-related activity under the jurisdiction of Safa.”

Ledwaba is seeking arbitration for the 2022 presidential elections to be declared null and void.

Others before her have been brave enough but they have fallen by the wayside and have directly or indirectly been removed from all football activities in SA. They are now a shadow of their former selves, and Safa has dealt them a mean lesson.

As they say, you need a thief to catch another and Ledwaba is using some of the Safa disgruntled employees who are well versed with the ins and out of the organisation to reach her goals. Some of the heavy guns she has enlisted in her arsenal include former Safa CEOS Leslie Sedibe, Gay Mokoena and Dennis Mumble, who have all been dealt deadly blows and left for dead by the Jordaan regime.

Others that form part of her ensemble are Buti Lerefolo, who served Safa as a NEC member between 2009 and 2013. Vernon Seymour, a former NEC member and lawyer is one of the legal brains in her camp. Those who are supporting her quest include Kaizer Chiefs legends Doctor “16Valve” Khumalo and Jan “Malombo” Lechaba, as well as Netball SA president Cecilia Molokwane.

Views from those who are in support of Ledwaba are that she is being victimised and abused because she is a woman. They say organisations such as Safa are still being run by misogynists and male chauvinists threatened by the potential rise in power of influential women.

The latest move to wipe Ledwaba off the history of SA football has not gone down well with the followers of the game. She has contributed immensely to football in her region and in the sub-continent.

She is one of the pioneers in the PSL era and one of the first female club owners in the country and for her to be treated in this manner is seen as one of the lowest of lows in the association’s history.

People are saying Safa must focus on the Hawks raid and that they must clear their name and reputation.

Caf has asked for an explanation of the raid by the Serious Commercial Crime Investigation Unit at the Safa headquarters.

Mzansi football has never been so interesting.