Chaos feared at Safa elections due to regions’ disputes

Amid allegations of manipulated regional congresses, exclusions of legitimate candidates and disputes over election outcomes, a court bid to interdict next week’s much-anticipated Safa congress has not been ruled out.

But Safa vice-president Bennett Bailey, who’s in the camp of presidential candidate Sandile Zungu, called on for the election to go ahead despite challenges in certain regions. Zungu will challenge incumbent Danny Jordaan at next week’s congress.

“We’ve got commitment 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 yesterday.

“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 is confident Zungu will end Jordaan’s nearly 13-year rule. “I am very positive that Zungu will win the elections. People will reveal themselves on the ballot,” the Safa deputy president said.

But as Jordaan and Zungu go head-to-head, Sowetan has established there’s growing disgruntlement emanating from some regions, which feel some of the delegates who will attend the congress may be of questionable standing.

“For instance, we are awaiting the decision of the arbitrator in Nelson Mandela Bay because there was an illegal congress there,” said a regional president who requested anonymity because they are not mandated to speak on the matter.

“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.”

Some regions are apparently battling to agree on delegations to be sent to the congress.

“The Pixley ka Seme region [in the Norther Cape] didn’t go to a regional congress. This is against Safa’s recommendation that all regions should have held 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.”

Former Safa NEC member Vernon Seymour, who represents four expelled NEC members − Gladwyn White, Monde Montshiwa, Orapeleng Setlhare and Emma Hendricks − said they would first allow the process of disputes to follow before considering whether to approach court for an interdict.

“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.”