South African Football Association (Safa) chief operations officer (COO) and legal eagle Tebogo Motlanthe is allegedly serving notice and will be leaving the federation at the end of this month after he tendered his resignation earlier this month.
Motlanthe is alleged to be on the verge of joining the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) as CEO.
Well-placed insiders have revealed that he will be replacing the incumbent Sue Destombes. At some point, he was also linked with a move to the Premier Soccer League as CEO, to replace the acting officeholder Mato Madlala.
It has been a year since Motlanthe made a dramatic return to Safa. In August last year, Motlanthe returned to Safa as COO after he resigned in May 2023, citing that “I cannot say I am in charge proudly because a lot is happening on [a] daily basis, and it is safe to say I am now a glorified clerk, and that doesn’t sit well with me.”
In the resignation letter, he also cited his health as one of the reasons for leaving. “My health has taken a knock and it will be unfair to you, Safa and the entire leadership if I continue half-heartedly,” he said.
The position of COO has been vacant since May 2023, when Lydia Monyepao was elevated to CEO following Motlanthe’s departure. Safa president Danny Jordaan welcomed Motlanthe back and said the new COO had already hit the ground running.
“The position of COO has been entrenched at Safa but was vacant, so we are happy that Motlanthe has agreed to return,” Jordaan said.
Said Motlanthe: “I am happy to be back and part of a collective that is working on making Safa a world-class organisation.”
Contacted for comment on Friday, Motlanthe refuted Sunday World’s information and said that there was no truth to the rumours.
Safa CEO Monyepao had not responded to Sunday World questions at the time of going to print.
