Arrest shines spotlight not just on Jordaan but Safa leadership: Buti Lerefolo

The arrest of Danny Jordaan on charges of fraud and theft amounting to R1.3m should shine a spotlight not just on the South African Football Association (Safa) president but the organisation’s leadership, says former Safa NEC member Buti Lerefolo.

Lerefolo has been loosely selected as a spokesperson for a number of the disillusioned former Safa officials who have campaigned in recent years for regime change and accountability at the organisation, many of whom are witnesses for the state in the case and cannot speak.

He said while Safa's rules do not require that Jordaan step aside pending being criminally charged, and any accused is innocent until proven guilty, a transparent organisation run by best corporate governance and accountability principles would still strongly consider such action.

Lerefolo — echoing the sentiments of recent years of figures such as former Safa vice-president Ria Ledwaba and former CEO Dennis Mumble — said he will not hold his breath for such action to be considered, such is the cult of personality that has allegedly developed around Jordaan by his leadership figures and National Executive Committee (NEC).

Ledwaba ran against Jordaan in the 2022 Safa election and lost convincingly, but alleged various transgressions of process and unsuccessfully took the result to court.

Mumble’s damning report of May 2020, after his departure as CEO in late 2018, alleged widespread gross abuses of the office by Jordaan. It is reported to have provided the basis for a criminal case being opened in 2020 by former Safa executive member Willie Mooka against Jordaan, the culmination of which was the arrest of the president who has served from 2013.

TimesLIVE Premium is informed Mooka, Ledwaba and Mumble are among the state’s witnesses.

Mooka laid three complaints, two of which Jordaan has been charged with.

Hawks spokesperson Col Katlego Mogale said warrants of arrests were issued for Jordaan, Safa CFO Gronie Hluyo and businessman Trevor Neethling on Wednesday morning. They were each granted R20,000 bail after appearing in a specialised commercial crimes court sitting in the Palm Ridge magistrate's court.

“The allegations are that between 2014 and 2018, the president of Safa used the organisation's resources for his personal gain, including hiring a private security company for his personal protection and a public relations company, without authorisation from the Safa board,” Mogale said.

Hluyo’s third complaint — that Jordaan pushed for the purchase of Safa’s Fun Valley technical centre for “an inflated R65m” — has not been charged, but it is understood that investigation is ongoing.

Lerefolo was a Safa NEC member from 2009 to 2013 and said he ran Jordaan’s first campaign for the presidency. He said, unlike so many other disaffected former Safa officials, he “never had a fight with him, he has never alienated me, but I just feel he’s doing the wrong things”.

“In 2021 I told him he shouldn’t stand again because he’s got nothing to offer. I’m a former NEC member — along the line some of us got together and said, ‘But why are we not saying something?’.

“And then we generally just agreed loosely, because we are not a structure of any sort, that I should speak. I guess it might also have to do with the possibly that some of them are witnesses. So I’m happy to speak for some of my former colleagues who share the same concerns on what is happening at Safa.”

The critics of Jordaan and his NEC have alleged they have made changes to the constitution and electoral rules to make it harder for prospective candidates to oppose them. An example is a rule that to run for election as Safa president or for the NEC, a candidate had to have served on a regional NEC for 10 years or more.

Lerefolo said such stringent requirements, but none on ethical grounds stipulating a candidate cannot run if criminally charged, or be required to step down if occupying a position for the same reason, would be a double standard.

The former NEC member, though, said Safa statutes are so murky and changed so often, he could not confirm if the 10-year ruling was still in place. He said such administrative issues are why Ledwaba and her supporters have called for Fifa intervention in Safa.

“That’s the thing — when you are speaking about Safa statutes it’s a slippery slope because you never know which are actually in effect. What tends to happen at Safa is those who are clinging to power change the constitution. 

“I left the NEC in 2013 — there were a number of changes being made. Some of us said, ‘We are doing these changes too often, why can’t we do a complete review and change these things in a way they can stand the test of time’.”

He said Safa statutes do not prevent a candidate from running for the presidency if they are criminally charged, a requirement on many basic job interviews.

 “Yes, there was never an anticipation of criminality and standing — stranger things have happened including in the US,” Lerefolo chuckled, with a thinly-veiled reference to the re-election as American president of convicted felon Donald Trump.

“It should be an ethical issue. The point I want to make relative to Safa is, in court, and I’m not a [legal] expert, Safa is listed as a complainant, which is its role assumed by the State against the accused. And therefore it suggests the accused have acted against Safa.

“Now, if people have acted against Safa it is incumbent for Safa and its NEC to get together and say, ‘Here is a person accused of acting against the association, what do we do?’

“So it would appear to me there is a call on them, unspoken, that they must actually act. Whether they will is a different matter.

“The reason we are where we are is we tend to focus only on a person like Danny, but not the enablers. And I think it’s important to put the spotlight on them to say, ‘Gents, why is this happening, why are we here?’ They must explain themselves.”

That so many former high-ranking former Safa members have turned against Jordaan after leaving the organisation acrimoniously is concerning. Many have continually alleged the internal workings of the organisation are sycophantic, myopic and lack introspection and criticism of the leadership.

“We have been on many platforms for the past four or five years saying Safa is collapsing because there is no accountability and by that we did not only mean Danny but also the people around him are not doing their job. Our [national] teams are successful despite Safa, not because of them.

—  Former Safa NEC member Buti Lerefolo

“When I was there it was like that and I suspect strongly it is a continuing thing, where the president is really not challenged,” Lerefolo said. “Also, if you come to a point where the law enforcement structures of the country are saying you have a case to answer to, the suggestion is your internal controls have collapsed.

“We have been on many platforms for the past four or five years saying Safa is collapsing because there is no accountability and by that we did not only mean Danny but also the people around him are not doing their job.

“Our [national] teams are successful despite Safa, not because of them.”

Jordaan’s arrest, like the Hawks’ raid of Safa House in March, will gain attention outside South Africa. The Safa president was the 2010 World Cup bid and local organising committee chair, and is perhaps South Africa’s best-known administrator internationally.

Lerefolo said Jordaan’s opponents hope his arrest will trigger greater scrutiny on Safa, if not intervention, by Fifa and the Confederation of African Football (Caf).

Caf appointed advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi to take a closer look at Safa's affairs after the Hawks raid.

“From our side, we expect that the government, through Sascoc [the SA Olympic committee] will act. Whether it is by asking Fifa to investigate, we don’t know. And I want to emphasise not acting against Danny only but also the Safa NEC that’s not doing its job.

“We are all aware of Fifa talking about government interference [in football, which the body can hand out bans for], but that normally has to do with elections. Where we are talking about criminality, the government cannot not look.”

Safa CEO Lydia Monyepao could not be reached for a response.

The association’s media department said it would release a statement covering many of these issues on Wednesday night. At the time of publishing this had not been released, but its contents will be added if and when it is.