Safa elections face uncertainty as regional disputes raise court threat

The South African Football Association (Safa) elections could face a legal challenge before next week’s congress, with allegations of manipulated regional congresses, legitimate candidates being excluded and disputes over the validity of election results fuelling tensions.

Safa vice-president Bennett Bailey, who supports presidential candidate Sandile Zungu, has urged the organisation to proceed with the election despite unresolved problems in several regions.

Zungu is standing against incumbent Danny Jordaan, who has led Safa for almost 13 years.

Bailey said he had been assured that the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) and Fifa would investigate claims of electoral manipulation, but insisted those investigations should not delay the congress.

“We’ve got commitments 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 on Monday.

“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 also expressed confidence that Zungu would defeat Jordaan at the congress.

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

However, there is growing dissatisfaction in some regions over the delegates expected to attend the congress. Concerns have been raised about whether certain delegates meet the required standards to participate in the election.

The position in Nelson Mandela Bay is among the matters still being contested. A regional president, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorised to comment, said an arbitrator’s decision was awaited after what they described as an unlawful congress.

“The region had decided to halt elections because there was no committee to oversee the election. When the meeting collapsed, people belonging to the FTF [Football Transformation Forum] insisted on going ahead with nomination. It was at this meeting that [Danny] Jordaan was nominated because the FTF is sympathetic to the president.”

There are also claims that some regions have been unable to agree on their delegations for the national congress.

“The Pixley ka Seme region [in the Northern Cape] didn’t go to a regional congress. This is against Safa’s recommendation that all regions should have held an 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 dispute could yet reach the courts. Former Safa national executive committee (NEC) member Vernon Seymour is representing four expelled NEC members Gladwyn White, Monde Montshiwa, Orapeleng Setlhare and Emma Hendricks.

Seymour said they would first allow the formal objections and challenges to run their course before deciding whether to seek an interdict to stop the congress.

“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.”

Safa has said the election will go ahead, while Sascoc is expected to begin an investigation and has called for answers from Fifa and Safa over the allegations.