Zungu must learn SAFA from grassroots before another election bid – Modipa

Sandile Zungu has been advised to become involved in the South African Football Association (SAFA) at local level before considering another attempt to become president.

Zungu, the AmaZulu president, lost to incumbent Danny Jordaan in the SAFA presidential election at the organisation’s elective congress. Tankiso Modipa, a SAFA national executive committee (NEC) member and chairperson of the Football Transformation Forum (FTF), said Zungu’s limited experience within SAFA’s grassroots structures had counted against him.

Modipa said candidates seeking to lead SAFA needed to understand how the organisation operates across every level, rather than relying only on knowledge of its national administration.

“We were taught by our elders at SAFA that we can never have someone who comes from outside the regions to lead SAFA, for various reasons,” he said.

He argued that SAFA’s lower structures were as important as its national leadership when assessing whether someone was ready to become president.

“When you deal with issues of SAFA, it’s not just the higher structures, there’s lower structures as well. You need to understand from the lowest to the highest structures, which is the national side,” Modipa said.

Zungu’s defeat came after he challenged Jordaan for the leadership of the national football organisation, but Modipa said the election result reflected the value placed on experience within SAFA’s regional and grassroots network.

He also said that understanding the South African football environment was essential for anyone representing the country in continental football organisations, including COSAFA and CAF.

“It cannot be correct that we get someone from outside SAFA to lead SAFA. We have our own integrity as SAFA to protect because we are competing with other countries in Africa, so we need someone who understands the dynamics of our country before we send them to COSAFA or CAF,” he said.

Despite Zungu’s failed challenge, Modipa did not rule out a future return to the presidential race. He said the AmaZulu president could first establish himself within SAFA’s structures and gradually develop the experience required for another campaign.

“If the opposition (Zungu) wants to integrate with SAFA, he must integrate at a local level and he must start from there and it will take him some time to understand the structure because he only understands business,” Modipa said.

The comments suggest Zungu would need to build a stronger connection with SAFA’s local and regional structures before seeking national office again. For Modipa, that understanding is a necessary foundation for leading the organisation and representing South African football at continental level.