The South African Football Association (SAFA) is facing internal turmoil after failing to pay staff salaries on time for the second time since December, prompting sharp criticism from employees over governance failures and financial mismanagement.
A late-night internal memo sent to staff on Monday informed employees that March salaries would not be paid as scheduled, citing a “delayed payment from one of our partners.”
The association pledged to resolve the issue and pay outstanding wages by the end of the month.
However, the communication has sparked outrage among employees, who accuse Safa of poor planning, a lack of transparency, and disregard for their financial wellbeing.
“Sending such a message at night shows how little they value us,” one employee told Sowetan.
“People have debit orders aligned to payday. How do you expect us to manage our lives like this?”
Dissolved trust and dried-up funds
Sources within Safa blame the leadership for failing to uphold basic financial discipline and transparency. They point to the dissolution of the Fifa Legacy Trust, which once held over R500 million bequeathed after the 2010 World Cup, as a major factor in the current cash crunch.
“There has been a significant drop in sponsorships over the last decade, and we mismanaged the trust fund.
Now there’s nothing left,” a Safa official said anonymously.
Staff members also expressed frustration that no advance warning was given about the delayed salaries, which would have allowed them to make alternative financial arrangements.
No FIFA grant, ongoing loan repayments
Insiders revealed that Safa has not received a financial grant from Fifa since taking a R22 million loan from the global football governing body last year.
The association is currently repaying that loan in quarterly installments of R500,000, which must be cleared before any further support is granted.
“There’s no clarity on how that R22 million was used,” a senior employee said.
The association’s CEO Lydia Monyepao did not attend a scheduled event this week to unveil Safa’s new technology partner and has not publicly commented on the wage delays. Repeated attempts to reach her have been unsuccessful.
NEC meeting in doubt
The crisis has cast uncertainty over the upcoming National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, which could decide the future of Safa President Danny Jordaan.
“How can we hold an NEC meeting when staff haven’t been paid?” asked a Safa insider.
The latest salary delay follows similar issues in December, raising growing concern over Safa’s financial stability and internal leadership.
