The South African Football Association (Safa) has launched a fightback after the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation Unit raided their offices last month.
On Friday, Safa held their National Executive Meeting (NEC), where members discussed several matters. One of the matters under discussion was the search and seizure conducted by the Hawks at the association’s headquarters in Nasrec, in the south of Johannesburg, on March 8.
Illegal and unlawful search and seizure
Safa is very unhappy with the Hawks’ illegal and unlawful search and seizure. And on that basis, they have lodged a letter of complaint with the oversight judge of the Hawks. At the heart of the complaint is the manner in which the raid was conducted. The association has also taken the matter for review, and to be set aside.
Said Safa’s chief financial officer, Gronie Hluyo: “The Hawks raided Safa offices on March 8, and they took certain items. But they returned those items on March 11. … We launched a complaint with the judge within the Hawks. This in terms of the steps we have taken on March 15.
“The Hawks have a platform where we can lodge complaints. We complained because, in our view, the raid was unlawful. And the manner in which it was conducted, we consider it as unfair. So, we received a reference for our complaint, and we are waiting for further action from the judge. On April 4, we lodged an application in the High Court to have that warrant set aside. We can’t give more information because the matter is sub-judice. Those are the steps we have taken so far,” Hluyo added.
Caf concerned about the incident
Caf had also expressed concern over the raid and wanted answers and clarity on the matter. Safa president Danny Jordaan explained that the association has written to the African mother body. He added that they are happy.
“We are members of Caf, and the CEO (Lydia Monyepao) responded to the letter. I will attend a Caf executive meeting in Morocco soon. And I will be reporting on whatever issues they want to clarify,” said Jordaan.
