Safa elections face possible court challenge amid regional disputes

South African Football Association (Safa) elections could be halted by a court interdict next week, with allegations of manipulated regional congresses, the exclusion of legitimate candidates and contested election results threatening to overshadow the battle for the presidency.

Safa vice-president Bennett Bailey, who supports presidential challenger Sandile Zungu, said the election should proceed while the disputes are investigated. Zungu is due to face incumbent Danny Jordaan at the Safa congress next week.

Bailey said the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) and Fifa had committed to examining claims of electoral interference.

“We’ve got commitment from Sascoc and Fifa that they are going to investigate these allegations [of election manipulation]. Sascoc president [Barry Hendricks] is on record; he said he is going to do that, so it’s all set for elections,” Bailey said yesterday.

His comments came after Safa confirmed the congress would go ahead, despite uncertainty over whether complaints in several regions could affect the legitimacy of the delegates and candidates involved.

“Safa came out and said the elections are going ahead… We were also thinking maybe there was going to be a problem with Danny or he was going to be disqualified and the elections were going to be postponed.

“Now the governance committee came out to say the elections will happen, and Sascoc says the investigation will be launched, wanting Fifa and Safa to give answers.”

Bailey said he expected Zungu to bring Jordaan’s nearly 13-year tenure as Safa president to an end.

“I am very positive that Zungu will win the elections. People will reveal themselves on the ballot,” the Safa deputy president said.

However, dissatisfaction is reportedly growing in a number of regions, where there are concerns that some of the delegates expected to attend the congress may not be in good standing.

A regional president, who asked not to be named because they were not authorised to discuss the dispute, said the position in Nelson Mandela Bay remained unresolved. An arbitrator is expected to rule on whether an election meeting held there was valid.

“For instance, we are awaiting the decision of the arbitrator in Nelson Mandela Bay because there was an illegal congress there,” the regional president said.

The official said the region had initially agreed to suspend its elections because there was no committee in place to supervise the process. When the meeting broke down, members of the Football Transformation Forum (FTF) allegedly proceeded with nominations.

“It was at this meeting that [Danny] Jordaan was nominated because the FTF is sympathetic to the president,” the official said.

There are also claims that some regions have been unable to reach agreement on the delegations they will send to the national congress.

The Pixley ka Seme region in the Northern Cape is among those facing questions after failing to hold a regional congress. That would conflict with Safa’s recommendation that all regions complete their elective congresses by March.

“The Pixley ka Seme region [in the Norther Cape] didn’t go to a regional congress. This is against Safa’s recommendation that all regions should have held elective congress by March. We are going to have people not in good standing participating in the congress simply because they are in the good books of the current leadership.”

The threat of legal action remains dependent on the outcome of the internal dispute process. Vernon Seymour, a former Safa National Executive Committee member, represents four expelled NEC members: Gladwyn White, Monde Montshiwa, Orapeleng Setlhare and Emma Hendricks.

Seymour said the group would first allow the formal objections and challenges to run their course before deciding whether to seek an interdict from the courts.

“Safa has released a list of nominees; now we are in the process of objections and challenges. I would have hoped that people in Safa leadership would aim to resolve all disputes before going to congress,” said Seymour.

“I’m not sure if any leader would want to be elected under these circumstances.”