Safa appoints legal head Tebogo Motlanthe as acting CEO

Adv Tebogo Motlanthe is the new acting CEO of the SA Football Association (Safa).

The 39-year-old takes over from his acting predecessor, Gay Mokoena‚ who was asked to leave the position on April 15 by Safa president Danny Jordaan.

“The Safa NEC has unanimously endorsed the appointment of Adv Tebogo Motlanthe as the new acting CEO of the organisation‚” Safa said on Saturday.

The appointment is with immediate effect.

“Adv Motlanthe formed part of the Safa legal team that successfully defended the association against the Fli-Afrika complaint in which the travel agency was claiming millions of rand from the FA.

“The lawsuit was dismissed by both the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court with costs [this week].”

According to his profile on LinkedIn‚ Motlanthe earned his LLB law degree from the University of Venda for Science and Technology in 2008 and a sports management qualification from Wits Business School in 2013.

He has served as Safa’s legal officer from 2011.

On Thursday, Safa had announced its Constitutional Court victory in a R17m dispute with travel company Fli-Afrika.

“The Constitutional Court on Wednesday May 6 2020 dismissed an appeal by Fli-Afrika with costs in which the travel agency was seeking R17m against Safa‚” that statement read.

“The Constitutional Court judgement is the final verdict in the long-running battle in which Fli-Afrika Travel has been pursuing compensation from Safa for monies they claim they were deprived of during the Fifa 2010 World Cup.”

The dispute had stemmed from an aborted plan between Safa and Fli-Afrika to sell World Cup travel packages.

Safa had earlier expressed disappointment with Mokoena after a report by the former acting CEO – authored after he left the position and addressed to the NEC‚ and which launched a stinging criticism of Jordaan’s administration of Safa – was leaked to the media.

Mokoena had alleged Jordaan was running the financially ailing organisation like his own fiefdom‚ was flouting corporate governance principles and was violating Safa statutes‚ among a host of other allegations.