Dirty tackles as Safa elections heat up
THE South African Football Association (Safa) and its president Danny Jordaan are in the limelight as claims of misuse of the association’s legal department to fend off potential threats to the top seat have surfaced.
Safa vice president Ria Ledwaba was nominated along with Safa Tshwane president Ngoako ‘Solly’ Mohlabeng and former vice president Nomsa Mahlangu to run against Jordaan in next month’s Safa presidential elections.
Ledwaba, who is entrenched in South African football having been involved administratively since the early 90s, was set to launch her election campaign last Friday in a press conference hosted by Civil Society members.
However this was halted by the Safa CEO, Tebogo Motlanthe, who issued a letter to Safa members stating that “all nominees are prohibited from publicly appearing in a form of campaigning before confirmation of candidacy by the newly formed Safa Governance Committee”.
Advocate Leruma Thobejane, who is Ledwaba’s legal representative, revealed the details of this circular and explained how Ledwaba changed her mind about attending the organised conference.
“It’s true that on Friday she received a circular, which was to prohibit her from holding any press conference.
“I’ll tell you that she was adamant that she wants to attend the press conference but I had to impose it on her, I had to express to her that there is no way that you can do that because you will risk your candidacy, actually this was the decision that was forced upon her,” said Thobejane.
A similar incident by the association was also placed in the spotlight by former Safa CEO Dennis Mumble, who confessed to have been a part of a plan to derail then candidate Ace Ncobo’s campaign for presidency in 2018.
Mumble appeared on Newzroom Afrika yesterday morning where he revealed the association’s reaction to being challenged by Ncobo and some of his allies in 2018.
“The rules of these elections are being made as we go along. It is not written anywhere that candidates can only start campaigning two weeks prior to the elections,” he said
“In 2018, when Ace Ncobo ran for the position of Safa president and I was still Safa CEO, along with people that worked under me, we were pressured by Jordaan to process about 31 charges against Ace Ncobo because he was not happy with what Ace and his supporters had to say,” he said.
“We issued letters against those people for speaking out about where they stood and what they thought about the association.
“Numerous letters went out in 2018 from Safa the same way it’s happening now, if you criticise Safa then you get letters from lawyers.”
The position of Safa presidency has always been a hotly contested terrain and Jordaan himself had a bruising battle before he ascended to the high office at Safa house.
Independent Media was unable to get Jordaan and Motlanthe to comment at the time of going to print yesterday.