A 64-year-old former acting CEO of the South African Football Association (Safa) was taken into custody on Wednesday morning and is scheduled to appear in court as a further defendant in the fraud case against Safa president Danny Jordaan.
Gauteng Hawks spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Singo said the suspect is expected to appear before the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Wednesday.
The suspect will be mentioned once they have been formally charged and appeared in court.
Criminal case against Jordaan
“He was arrested this morning [Wednesday] by the Johannesburg-based Hawks’ serious commercial crime investigation team after handing himself over,” Singo said.
“During September 2018, the suspect was appointed as the acting chief executive officer of the South African Football Association. It is alleged that the suspect conspired to backdate the contract for Grit Communications at Safa.
“It is further alleged that Grit Communications provided services to the Safa president without Safa’s knowledge and authorisation.”
Singo continued: “It is reported that the service level agreement that was entered into between Safa and Grit Communications on October 1, 2017, expired on September 30, 2018; therefore, there was no new service level agreement that was entered into between Safa and Grit Communications during the period of October 2018 and July 2019.”
In the meantime, on November 21, the criminal case involving the suspect’s co-accused Jordaan (61), businessman Trevor Neethling (46), Safa chief financial officer Gronnie Hluyo (55), and Neethling’s company Grit Communications will resume.
The charges against Jordaan, Neethling, Hluyo, and Grit include three counts of fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud.
The charges are based on claims that Safa’s financial resources were fraudulently embezzled for R1.3-million between 2014 and 2018. All defendants have been released on R20 000 bail.
Service level agreement
The National Prosecuting Authority’s regional spokesperson, Phindi Mjonondwane, said the fraud claims of R1.3-million are related to a 12-month service level agreement (SLA) that Safa, represented by Jordaan, supposedly made with Grit Communications in December 2017 for public relations and communication services for the football association.
Mjonondwane said the state claims that Jordaan signed the SLA without Safa’s approval, which goes against Safa’s rules, and that he and Neethling dated the agreement back to October 1, 2017.
“Jordaan is alleged to have employed Grit Communications for purposes of protecting his personal image following allegations of rape leveled against him in 2017,” Mjonondwane said.
Furthermore, he allegedly acquired protection services worth over R40 000 from Badger Security during the Safa 2018 elective congress, which were purportedly intended for Safa but were exclusively rendered to him.
“According to Safa statutes, Jordaan was precluded from doing so, as only the chief financial officer and CEO of Safa were authorised to sign contractual agreements.”
“The public relations services were already rendered to Safa by its existing department that handled public relations and communications.
“Despite full knowledge of the unauthorised and unlawful nature of the actions of both Jordaan and Neethling, it is alleged that Hluyo approved the payments to Grit Communications and Badger Security.”
