Safa was given a bailout by the Department of Sport, Arts, and Culture on Thursday after the association received an advance of R5-million to settle the outstanding match fees owed to Bafana Bafana players.
Sunday World revealed in November that Safa still owes match fees and bonuses to players from Banyana Banyana and Bafana from the previous two camps.
The players requested assistance from the SA Football Players Union.
The department tweeted on Friday that it is giving Safa R5-million to cover player salaries after learning that Safa is now short on funds to cover player salaries before the holidays.
Turnaround plan
“The Minister of Sport, Arts, and Culture Gayton McKenzie wrote to the organisation to offer the advance, with the understanding that it will be subtracted from the grant paid in the 2025 financial year,” the department said in a statement.
“This comes with the condition that Safa’s leadership would need to provide reasons for why their financial affairs are so troubled, together with a variable turnaround plan to avoid such a situation in the future.
“Safa agreed to the conditions and thanked the minister for the intervention.”
McKenzie stated that the department could not permit players to go on holidays unpaid, particularly since they have performed admirably for the nation.
“The men’s team recently qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations [Afcon], and we need to focus on preparing for this challenge as well as making sure we get to the 2026 Fifa World Cup,” McKenzie said.
“Banyana Banya have also led the way, winning the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in 2022 and going deep at the Fifa World Cup last year.”
Inadequate sponsorship revenues
The department went on to say that Safa CEO Lydia Monyepao informed them that Safa has been dealing with late payments from a number of partners in addition to inadequate sponsorship revenues.
According to Monyepao, Safa has been developing a financial turnaround plan to boost income and reduce expenses, which will be presented to the minister after the next meeting of the association’s national executive committee.
Bafana is improving, and with two games remaining, they earned a spot in the upcoming Afcon tournament. They also finished third in the last Afcon in Ivory Coast in February.
Under coach Hugo Broos, the team has regained its fearsome aura, and the fans are also back in large numbers.
