Safpu claims Swallows has failed to pay players for months, vows to take club to PSL DRC

The matter between Moroka Swallows and its sacked players appears to be far from over after the South African Football Players’ Union (Safpu) exposed more alleged wrongdoings by the club.   

Swallows, who have made the news for all the wrong reasons over the past few months, sacked 22 players after an internal disciplinary process.   

The club terminated the contracts of players after they went on strike over unpaid salaries in December which resulted in Swallows' failure to honour their last two fixtures of 2023.   

Failure to attend games against Mamelodi Sundowns and Golden Arrows landed the Dube Birds on the wrong side of Premier Soccer League (PSL).   

The PSL slapped Swallows with a R1m fine, of which R600,000 is suspended for 24-months for bringing the league into disrepute.   

Sundowns and Arrows were each awarded three points as the fixtures were treated as a walkover.   

Safpu president Thulaganyo Gaoshubelwe revealed Swallows players have allegedly been playing without being paid salaries for a few months, not only in November and December.   

“This problem doesn’t start now. It’s very important to underscore that,” Gaoshubelwe said.   

“The players of Moroka Swallows have been honouring the games without getting their salaries as they ought to in relation to their contracts of employment.   

“The reality of the matter is that (the issue of unpaid salaries) has been going on and we have been engaging with the players. We agreed with the players and said ‘explore all the internal avenues. Agree with the club and once everything is fine, we are good but to the extent that you need the organisation to be involved we will get involved'.   

“ On December 12, 13 and 14, those are the charges. They are charged that on those days they didn’t show up for training.   

“On December 26 they also didn’t go to training and the club told them they will implement a no pay of salaries thing.”   

Gaoshubelwe argued that players should have been paid for the days they have worked, minus the four days they didn’t train.   

He said the club was negotiating with sacked players and will choose who is coming back, and he described that as very “evil and diabolic”.   

Safpu said the process has been illegal and they are prepared to take the club to the PSL dispute resolution chamber (DRC) if it is not solved amicably.   

Gaoshubelwe said: “We put them to terms to say they need to respond and if they don’t, we have to take the matter to the DRC to address the matters.”

He also revealed players at Swallows are not receiving payslips.