Mokoena was paid his money, says Safa
THE South African Football Association (Safa) have confirmed they paid former acting chief executive Gay Mokoena for the extended work he did for them early last month.
A fortnight ago, Independent Media got hold of a letter titled the ‘Mokoena Report’, in which the former chief executive told of his unceremonious departure from the association and how Safa president Danny Jordaan allegedly flouted the constitution several times regarding matters of staff appointments and governance.
Mokwena, whose tenure was scheduled to come to and end on March 31, also opened up on how he continued to work with Jordaan early in April in a gentleman’s agreement before the latter cut ties with him on April 15.
However, on their parting, the pair agreed – without the knowledge of chief financial officer Gronie Hluyo – that Mokoena would receive half his April salary despite being removed from the payroll.
In a letter that surfaced on Saturday, in which Jordaan responds to the accusation made by Mokoena, attached is an email from the former chief executive to Hluyo expressing the new arrangements he had with Jordaan for the work he had done early in April.
In his response, the CFO reminds Mokoena that “his contract had expired by the end of March, so he’s subsequently been removed from the Safa payroll”, thus urging him to engage with Jordaan and get back to him on the new developments.
Point eight of the response to the “G. Mokoena appointment and departure” is a detailed sentence that Jordaan assigned Hluyo to pay Mokoena for April.
Independent Media tried to reach Jordaan on Sunday to enquire why he privately worked with Mokoena early in April and was in fact paid half his salary.
Jordaan delegated auditing committee chairman Mxolisi Sibam to respond.
“The first thing Mr Mokoena should have done was to engage with the president and tell him that his contract with the association had come to an end. It was actually his responsibility to do that,” Sibam told Independent Media late on Sunday.
“Nonetheless, he was paid for the job he did in April. It was actually out of the courtesy of the president because he instructed Gronie to pay him for the job that he had done early last month.”
Sibam went on to question how Mokoena continuously agreed to work without a contract. On his appointment in November, Mokoena started his term on a verbal agreement after only signing on the dotted line in February.
“In the case of his first contract, we can argue about the unavailability of both parties – the president and the chief executive.
But even then, Mr Mokoena should have gone swiftly in making sure that he signs the contract at least early in the (new) year,” Sibam said.
Jordaan has also refuted claims that he unfairly dismissed Mokoena, saying that his term was up on
March 31 and hadn’t submitted any interest in extending his contract.