SAFA Responds to Malicious and Coordinated Regime Change Campaign
The South African Football Association (SAFA) has noted a malicious and coordinated campaign to damage the reputations of the Association, the President and the Chief Executive Officer.
These individuals have targeted the President and CEO with attacks that have been launched through certain media outlets and social media in an attempt to change the regime at SAFA. At the heart of the campaign is a misinformation operation that is intended to create the impression that there is chaos and destruction at SAFA.
The campaign has escalated in recent weeks with some even going as far as posting a series of untruths on their own personal social media accounts, attempting to create the impression that the President and the CEO do not consult when making decisions. Nothing could be further from the truth. The President consults on a regular basis with his Vice Presidents and this is normal. Even SASCOC convenes a President’s Forum, and while it’s not a constitutional structure, it is used as a sound board. SAFA’s accountability is clearly set out in its statutes and is not determined on a whim.
PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON SPORT, ARTS AND CULTURE
SAFA’s appearance before the Portfolio Committee on Sport, Arts and Culture is being deliberately misportrayed as an anomaly when it isn’t. The reality is the Portfolio Committee on Sport, Arts and Culture is conducting their oversight role into Federations, which is their constitutional responsibility. This is not the first rodeo for SAFA and the Association has never refused these obligations. SAFA as a law-abiding organisation will avail themselves so that the Portfolio Committee can exercise their obligations.
FINANCES
Since 1991, SAFA has submitted unqualified audit reports, which were tabled before the Association’s highest decision-making body, the Congress, and they were then approved by the Congress. We must state clearly that there has never been a year where we did not table audited financial report. They were endorsed and approved by every Member that was present. SAFA is among very few National Federations in this country that have submitted audited financial statements for every year of operation without fail. On the question of theft, we issued a statement on 8 March 2024 and said there is no money missing at SAFA. Let us reiterate, there is no money missing from SAFA.
Important to note is that the NPA dropped three out of the seven charges laid against the President and there is a delay in their submission for all charges to be dropped. The insinuation that there should be mass resignations because of charges being brought against the SAFA President is malicious and feeds an agenda of instability, something our performing teams cannot afford. Propaganda like this is designed to paint a picture of total chaos, however all our teams are performing well and are attending all scheduled matches.
Additionally, the Association is about to table a proposal to clubs on how best to settle outstanding debts. This is an ongoing process.
GOVERNANCE
SAFA, like any other organisation, does experience cash flow problems and utilises our available funds to ensure that our national teams participate in various international competitions. The development pipeline demands regular competitions, and this has recently prevented us from holding executive meetings. However, tasks delegated are taken care off by the office and sub committees. SAFA as an organisation is still functional and is not paralysed by not having meetings. There is no crisis.
The highest decision-making body at SAFA is the Congress and it consists of 207 persons, plus invited guests from FIFA, CAF and COSAFA, and an executive of 40. It must therefore be clear that logistically, a Congress requires timeous planning and huge financial resources. It is for this reason that SAFA is sometimes forced to consider its obligations in terms of competitions, and its responsibility in terms of convening committee meetings in addition to the abovementioned structures. SAFA further has 17 committees that have a responsibility to report to the National Executive Committee.
SAFA CEO
Allegations that the CEO is bullying and treating female staff members in an unfair manner is cheap gossip unsupported by evidence. The senior journalist from a Sunday newspaper who authored this claim sent questions to the CEO just after 14h00 on Saturday, an hour before Bafana Bafana faced Malawi in an away African Nations Championship Qualifier. SAFA also has a team representing the country in the U20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt, and yet the newspaper expected her to drop everything she was doing to respond to malicious gossip at short notice. By the time the CEO was able to attend to his questions, the journalist claimed that the newspapers had already gone to the printers. The CEO has been at the forefront of advocating for the advancement of women at the Association and gender equality in football. This well-qualified and competent person has been celebrated by both FIFA and CAF. In the FIFA Summit in Saudi Arabia, she was asked to address the Summit together with FIFA’s Chief Women’s Football Officer. It is therefore surprising that certain individuals have decided to launch an unprovoked attack on her integrity and capacity. This is regrettable and a distasteful cheap shot. SAFA as a federation has also demonstrated its commitment to the empowerment of women in governance, competitions and in the promotion of women in football.
NATIONAL TEAMS
It is mindboggling that these attacks at SAFA come during a period of unprecedented success for the Association. Bafana Bafana qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations to be held in Morocco in December. The team is also top of the log in the qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The SA U20 Men’s National Team, Amajita, are currently in Egypt participating in the CAF U20 AFCON. The SA U17 Men’s National Team, Amajimbos, recently qualified for the FIFA U17 World Cup to be held in Qatar. Banyana Banyana will continue their preparations later this month to defend their African title at the Women’s AFCON in July in Morocco.
The schools U15 Girls team are COSAFA champions and recently participated in the CAF African Schools Football Championship in Ghana where they won the bronze medal. The U15 Boys team are also COSAFA champions and also participated in the CAF African Schools Football Championship.
COACH EDUCATION AND ADMINISTRATION
Coach education is thriving and has seen unprecedented success with a number of graduates in various coaching licenses. Due to this success, the SAFA Head of Coach Education, Keneilwe Mathibela, has since been approached by FIFA to oversee the delivery of coaching development programmes on the continent.
SAFA Chief Medical Officer, Dr Thulani Ngwenya, has been appointed as Vice President of the CAF Medical Committee and will also be at this year’s FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup. Victor Gomes was appointed as Vice President to the CAF Referees Committee. A number of our referees have been called up to officiate at various international competitions. Finally, a number of the SAFA NEC members serve in various capacities in COSAFA and CAF structures.
In closing, we wish to make it clear that the Communications Policy of SAFA states that the official spokesperson of the Association is the CEO and she has the responsibility to respond to media inquiries on behalf of SAFA.
Despite the vicious attempts to destabilize SAFA, the Association will continue in its mandate to develop and serve football in this country.
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