The South African Football Association [SAFA] has expelled four National Executive Committee members who were suspended, and the association’s vice-president, Linda Zwane, explained why the decision did not come from the disciplinary committee.
The local football governing body had placed Monde Montshiwa, Gladwyn White, Emma Hendricks and Orapeleng Setlhare on suspension following skirmishes witnessed at an NEC meeting at the SAFA House in Nasrec in March.
Tensions reached a boiling point at the gathering at SAFA House back then, and the quartet emerged as the culprits before being hit with sanctions. The four are believed to be against president Danny Jordaan‘s continued stay at the helm of the organisation.
They want him to step aside pending the finalisation of his fraud case and theft, which is before the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court. Jordaan is accused of misappropriating R1.3 million from the SAFA coffers.
HOW SAFA CONGRESSES ARRIVED AT THE DECISION TO BOOT OUT FOUR NEC MEMBERS
The four members approached the Mahikeng High Court, where they filed an urgent application to have their suspensions overturned. But their application was dismissed as lacking urgency.
SAFA has now expelled them for taking football matters to court before exhausting internal processes. Congress moved in to expel the four before their case was heard by the disciplinary committee.
“I think in terms of the members, an item was placed before congress and congress had to take a decision whether these members, by taking SAFA to court after they were suspended [violated SAFA statutes],” Zwane told the media at the SAFA Congress in Boksburg on Sunday.
WHY SAFA CONGRESS BYPASSED THE DISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE
“It is very clear that they have not exhausted all their internal avenues, and the Congress, therefore, resolved that the members must be expelled. So, that’s the decision of the Congress.
“These guys, the said members, were suspended pending the disciplinary action, but whilst the process was leading to that, they decided to go to a court, which is against SAFA statutes and FIFA statutes, of course. So, I think that is the consequence of the court [action]. The first decision was to suspend them [before] the disciplinary committee [hearing], but this decision to take the matter to court has resulted in this.
“So, that is how you treat them, because whether they were suspended, the merits of their suspension were not discussed here, because they belong to another forum. But the matter that was before Congress was them taking the matters to court.”
It is not clear at this stage if the expelled members will appeal against the Congress’ decision, which was made on an afternoon Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos also addressed them. Though his precise words weren’t made clear, Broos declared that Bafana are ready to take on the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
RELATED STORY: SAFA address purging allegations amid Danny Jordaan’s fourth term bid