SAFA presidency race cleared as Jordaan and Zungu pass eligibility checks

Both Danny Jordaan and Sandile Zungu have been declared eligible to contest the South African Football Association (SAFA) presidency, clearing the way for a two-candidate race at next month’s elective congress.

The decision was confirmed on 28 August by Dr Victor Mogajane, chairperson of the SAFA Governance Committee, after three and a half weeks of examining the eligibility of all nominees.

Zungu’s bid had attracted particular attention since the AmaZulu owner announced his intention to challenge for SAFA’s top position. Questions had been raised over whether he met the requirements to stand, but the governance committee has now ruled that both presidential nominees satisfy the relevant criteria.

“In terms of the presidential list, we received two candidates, and these two were vetted. According to the list, it means the nominations for the presidential candidate are two,” said Mogajane.

The presidential contest is being held alongside elections for SAFA’s national and provincial structures. However, a number of nominees in those categories have not passed the vetting process.

Mogajane said 30 people were nominated for the national list, with five ruled ineligible and 25 approved under the association’s statutes. A further 27 nominations were assessed for the provincial list, of which five did not qualify and 22 were declared eligible.

“The next category is that in terms of the nominations for the national list, we received thirty nominees, and out of these, five are not legible, and only twenty-five qualify through the vetting in terms of the statutes. The third criteria have been in relation to nominations to the provincial list: twenty-seven were vetted, five did not, and twenty-two were legible.”

The eligible candidates will be seeking support from SAFA’s voting members at the elective congress on 12 September. The association has 52 regions, 11 associate members and one special member, the Premier Soccer League (PSL), which will all have a role in deciding the next leadership of the organisation.

The governance committee has not yet publicly released the complete list of approved candidates. Deputy chairperson Tumi Dlamini said SAFA would first communicate the outcome directly to every nominee before publishing the names.

Dlamini, who previously served on the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Governance Committee, said the same procedure would apply to the presidential candidates. Their names will be formally announced once they have been contacted personally.

The confirmation removes the uncertainty surrounding Zungu’s eligibility and ensures that Jordaan and Zungu will be the two candidates on the presidential list, subject to the formal publication of the final names by SAFA.

The eligibility announcement comes after a separate development involving TS Galaxy, whose FIFA registration ban has been lifted.