After losing yet another appeal in the Pretoria High Court in December, which was dismissed with costs, unrelenting former South African Football Association (Safa) vice-president Ria Ledwaba is now taking the federation to the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein.
Ledwaba has been challenging Safa in various court battles since before the 2022 Safa presidential elections.
The incumbent, Danny Jordaan, came out victorious in those elections and was given a third term as Safa president.
Even though she lost the elections by a landslide, she is still challenging the association in the courts, saying that Safa violated its constitution.
She is fighting alongside Safa national executive committee member Solly Mohlabeng, who is the second applicant in the matter.
The duo has had several cases thrown out or dismissed by the courts, with costs.
The court papers, which the Sunday World has seen, were filed on Thursday. Last year, Ledwaba’s bitter dispute took a nasty turn, with the national association attaching her bank accounts to recoup legal fees costs from the numerous court cases she launched, and later lost.
On December 5, Ledwaba’s latest application for leave to appeal was dismissed with costs, including the cost of senior counsel.
In its latest notice of motion on Thursday, Ledwaba’s legal team, headed by Leruma Thobejane, is applying for an order in the following terms:
- Granting the applicants condonation for the late filing of the application for leave to appeal.
- Granting the applicants leave to appeal against the judgment and orders of the Gauteng Division of the High Court, Pretoria delivered on the February 9, 2024 and December 5, 2024, respectively.
- Set aside the judgment and orders of the court a quo.
- Substitute the judgment with an order declaring that:
- The applicants have the right to refer their dispute to the Arbitration Tribunal of Safa in terms of Article 58.4 of the Safa statutes.
- Safa’s refusal to refer the dispute to arbitration was unlawful and invalid.
- An order directing Safa to convene arbitration to adjudicate the dispute declared by the applicants.
- An order that the respondents pay the costs of this appeal and the costs in the court a quo.
However, Safa legal representative Lesedi Mphahlele said that Ledwaba is fighting a losing battle and that her legal fees are escalating. He said that they will have to again attach her properties to recoup the fees.
“The legal fees altogether go above R1-million. We are going to attach her properties and bank accounts to get the money – like what we did with the first one when we attached her properties,” Mphahlele told Sunday World.
“She is fighting a losing battle, and the costs keep on escalating, if she loses again there’s going to be more costs.
“She lost all the cases, since 2022, she lost six cases against Safa and she has not won even one matter. If she goes to the Supreme Court, costs are going to escalate higher,” he added.
