Disgruntled former vice-president Ria Ledwaba is calling on Fifa to save South African football from collapsing.
Speaking to Sunday World Engage last Friday, Ledwaba said that Fifa must rescue football from the clutches of inept leadership under president Danny Jordaan.
To add to Safa’s woes, Willy Mooka, the former national executive committee member (NEC) who is the whistleblower in the Hawks’ raid, says they are confident they have a solid case against Safa.
Two weeks ago, the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation Unit raided Safa’s headquarters and conducted a search and seizure operation and confiscated laptops, USBs and hard drives.
Ledwaba has been involved in bitter court battles with the association since the 2022 Safa presidential elections. Even though she lost by a landslide, she is still challenging the association in court, saying it violated its own constitution.
In an eventful month, Safa wrote a letter to Ledwaba, banning her from all football activities and declaring her a ‘persona non grata’.
Read part of the Safa letter that Sunday World has seen: “After careful consideration and thorough review of recent events, the Safa NEC has decided that you are to be declared ‘persona non grata’ within our organisation. In other words, you are disqualified from all and every football and football-related activity under the jurisdiction of Safa.”
On Tuesday, Safa made a U-turn and wrote back to Ledwaba, saying “we regret having sent you the letter, which is hereby withdrawn.”
“Writing me letters to ban me and then later withdrawing further dents the organisation and shows how inept their leadership is under the president. Sponsors are watching and saying what nonsense is this?” said Ledwaba.
“Jordaan is the only person who knows it all. He does not delegate. When he was at Fifa, he did not tell us there was an acting president. Even when he was mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay, he would run Safa from his mayor’s office in Gqeberha. I want Fifa to normalise SA football and they must save our football – it is in their interest to act.”
Ledwaba has roped in three former Safa CEOs and a few erstwhile NEC members in her camp. She also recruited Dennis Mumble, well-known attorney Leslie Sedibe and Gay Mokoena who were at the helm previously. Legal eagle Vernon Seymour, Buti Lerefolo and whistleblower Mooka, are some of the former NEC members in Ledwaba’s corner.
“I did not go to Sascoc because there was a dossier sent to them before the elections and they did nothing. I also sent Minister of Sports [Zizi Kodwa] a message that I want to meet with him.
“I am disappointed that Sascoc are mum. The minister said he sent a message to Sascoc and he wants answers – I will wait and see if they are going to act.”
“Fifa gets involved on two occasions only: when there’s a total collapse of governance and also mismanagement of funds. Check the 2010 Fifa World Cup Legacy Trust Fund, the R40-million that was left in April 2021 when I was still a trustee in that board.
“Safa must give us a breakdown of the expenditure (of the funds). They are saying those members who are asking these questions are disgruntled – I was a lone figure asking all the questions.
“I know for a fact that there was no NEC meeting, so who made these decisions? Danny Jordaan wants to see me crawling on the floor. I have become a threat,” Ledwaba added.
Said Mooka: “We are confident we have a solid case. Safa must answer three questions: the Fun Valley overspending; the communications company that was used to defend the president and security company that was hired by the association.
“We are confident that they will be charged and that justice will be served. We are dealing with facts, and not with individuals. They must just prove their innocence.”
Approaced for comment, Jordaan, who is in Algeria with Bafana Bafana, referred enquiries to vice-president Bennett Bailey.
“Bafana Bafana did well at Afcon and won bronze medal. They are in Algeria participating in the Fifa series,” said Bailey.
“Banyana Banyana are preparing for the Olympic qualifiers and the junior national teams are also in camp. What does she mean when she says we are collapsing Safa?”
“We are conducting Caf A-Licence coaching courses and we are having referees match commissioners training courses. With all these activities, and many others around the country, we are doing pretty good as an association and we are not sure what Ria is complaining about.
“Last week we had a successful executive meeting where we took far-reaching decisions. Why are people worried about someone who is not in football? It’s not the truth that the NEC did not take the decision to ban her – the NEC took the decision.
“She is not being victimised. She lost three court cases and she must pay for the costs.
“We are trying to recoup our money and she must say when she is going to pay for the court cases. We cannot talk about her being banned, that status was withdrawn,” added Bailey.
