Jordaan’s arrest long overdue: Former SAFA NEC members

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Former SA Football Association (SAFA) National Executive Committee (NEC) members have released a statement describing President Danny Jordaan’s arrest as long overdue.

This follows a criminal complaint laid by Willie Mooka, a former SAFA NEC member, against the SAFA President on 20 May 2020 at the time when Mooka was still a member of the SAFA NEC.

Jordaan is accused, and subsequently changed for allegedly hiring a private security company for his personal protection between 2014 and 2019.

He further allegedly used the organization’s resources to hire a public relations company without authorization from the SAFA NEC and allegedly violated SAFA’s statutes thus prejudicing SAFA a loss of R1.3m.

The former members consisting of Abel Rakoma, Truman Prince, Lucas Nhlapo have commended Mooka’s courage in reporting these alleged serious governance failures, which has now resulted in the charges proffered by the National Prosecuting Authority.

Mooka’s complaint followed the SAFA NEC’s rejection of a report by the former SAFA CEO, Dennis Mumble, which contained damning and serious allegations against Jordaan.

The members said this is after Mumble’s refusal to sign a contract to employ the SAFA President’s personal public relations agency to clean up his image following rape allegations levelled against him in October 2017.

“Mumble as the CEO refused to sign the contract on the basis that the rape allegations faced by Jordaan was a personal matter and had nothing to do with SAFA’s mandate to develop football in the country.

“Despite Mumble’s refusal to sign the contract, an agreement was signed behind his back by Jordaan himself, without the knowledge and consent of Mumble.

“After the NEC rejected Mumble’s report, Mooka, in fulfilment of his fiduciary duty and at great cost to his role as a member of the NEC, then lodged a criminal complaint with the South African Police Services.

SAFA NEC failure to resolve Jordaan’s matter

“Mooka’s complaint also included Mr Jordaan’s unilateral engagement of a private security service for his personal protection, at SAFA’s expense, in June 2018, without the knowledge and consent of Mumble and the SAFA NEC,” the statement read.

The former members highlighted that the had hoped that this matter would be resolved internally using SAFA’s own internal dispute resolution mechanisms. However, that opportunity was lost when the SAFA NEC rejected Mumble’ report in May 2020.

They also stated that a further opportunity was lost when the FIFA Ethics Committee failed to deal with the matter, which was brought to its attention as part of a broader complaint by Mooka and Gay Mokoena, a former SAFA vice-president, in July 2020.

They continued; “We, therefore welcome the arrest and expect more arrests as Jordaan was clearly enabled by a well-orchestrated system of patronage within the SAFA NEC.

“We have long expressed our concern at the poor state of governance in SAFA and believe that this decision reflects the interest of justice and fairness.

“As noted earlier, we had hoped that the matter could be resolved internally, but it became clear that Mooka was left with no other option than to report the matter to the police following the refusal of the SAFA NEC to address Mumble’s report.”

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The former members said they hope that the matter will be dealt with swiftly in the interests of justice and the proper administration of football in the country in the interest of SAFA members and the broader football community in South Africa.

They added that they remain committed to ensuring that the future of South African football is built on principle of honesty, transparency, and respect for the rule of law.

“It is important that those who are entrusted with the promotion of football development, utilise football resources for the benefit of football,” they expressed.