SA soccer deserves better than Safa's boardroom brawls

Election season. Across different domains of humanity, it brings with it promises of change and renewal. But in the case of the South African Football Association (Safa), it usually brings smear campaigns, screaming matches and boardroom brawls. Since his election as Safa president in 2013, Danny Jordaan has been at the centre of these ugly scenes, which bring SA soccer into disrepute.

It was no different on Saturday, 7 March 2026, as an ordinary Safa congress descended into chaotic scenes of pushing, shoving and screaming. The cause of the chaotic scenes at the headquarters of SA’s soccer custodian? Safa national executive committee (NEC) member Tankiso Modipa asked that his motion to have four critics of Jordaan suspended be moved up the agenda of the day.

Safa censorship?

The four affected NEC members – Gladwin White, Monde Montshiwa, Jacob “Bhuda” Mathate and Lebogang Riet – opposed this suggestion. The quartet have been vocal about their opposition to Jordaan, even in the media space. This approach, of being publicly vocal, is one of the reasons suspension hangs over their heads like a guillotine.

Safa has an airtight communications policy, with NEC members prohibited from speaking on internal Safa matters without prior approval from the powers that be.

CEO Lydia Monyepao and designated spokespeople are the ones with the authority to speak with the media. In this regard, White, Montshiwa, Mathate and Riet are accused of leaking sensitive information to the media, hence the call for their respective suspensions.

As the chaotic brawl unfolded, Jordaan, who chaired the meeting, could be seen sitting at the top table. He watched as his detractors and his allies jostled over him. Although he has not officially declared it, at the heart of the dispute is Jordaan’s intention to run for a fourth term as Safa president.

Gayton McKenzie speaks

Although the meeting at Safa House was closed off to the media, in the age of smart phones and social media, the mayhem that shaped the congress was captured on video and made it to the public domain. Minister of Sport, Art and Culture Gayton McKenzie posted one of the clips from the fracas and termed the events “shameful”.

“This is hugely embarrassing and shameful behaviour by the people tasked with running our football. We will be informing Caf and Fifa of our intention to investigate and take action,” McKenzie said on his social media accounts. “We are too hard at work bringing corporate sponsorship to Safa to allow this nonsense.”

In 2025, McKenzie said that as long as Jordaan enjoyed the majority support of Safa’s NEC members, and they kept voting for him, because Safa did not have term limits there was nothing he could do about Jordaan’s stay at Safa House.

Just recently the federation unveiled its new Adidas kits before the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (which has since been postponed) and the latest edition of the Fifa World Cup, set to be staged in Mexico, the US and Canada. Adidas replaced Le Coq Sportif.

Meanwhile, Standard Bank and Safa announced a multimillion-rand sponsorship agreement at the beginning of March. The event, which took place at Standard Bank’s headquarters in Rosebank, was attended by Jordaan, Monyepao, as well senior national team coaches Hugo Broos and Desiree Ellis.

For the association’s most senior members to be squabbling in that manner is not a great look for an organisation that has struggled to attract sponsors due to consistent negative publicity. Allegations of Jordaan squandering Safa funds, which see him currently in court for fraud, have not helped. This latest incident will not please the federation’s corporate partners.

Safa statement

Nevertheless, Safa played down the events, saying the organisation was pulling in one direction, with White, Montshiwa, Mathate and Riet being the only rogue elements in this unity.

“The South African Football Association’s NEC meeting held at Safa House on 7 March 2026 was adjourned because we could not conclude the business of the day,” Safa said. “The meeting was disrupted by four members in the room, and Safa decided to adjourn the meeting to protect the integrity of the association.

“Safa regrets that these four individuals impacted on the entire programme that was planned by so many people behind the scenes, who spent hours and days preparing for the meeting. And now their tireless hard work has been undermined by a few,” the federation added.

“Safa has made tremendous progress in preparing our national teams in the past few months and we are working around the clock to ensure that our senior and junior national teams are ready to represent the country. We remain committed to ensuring that South African football is well represented on the global stage.”

Gladwyn White’s allegations

When appearing on Marawa Sports Worldwide on Monday, White said they would not be bullied by Jordaan and his allies, accusing the incumbent Safa president of practising “systemic corruption” within Safa.

“When you are dealing with people who are adamant about putting the legal framework of the organisation in abeyance to impose themselves through the majority they possess, things like this will come up. We are adamant about saving the soul of the organisation from the hands of the incumbent president,” White said.

White and his colleagues are the latest to challenge Jordaan, with others who did so before them having failed. In 2018, former Premier Soccer League referee Ace Ncobo pulled out of the elections at the last minute – effectively handing Jordaan an unchallenged run-in.

In the most recent elections, which took place in 2022, Jordaan was challenged by his former vice-president Ria Ledwaba and Safa Tshwane president Solly Mohlabeng. He comfortably defeated them, but they accused him and allies of illegally amending the Safa constitution just before the 2022 elections.

In essence, they argued that the elections were not free and fair; that they were rigged in favour of Jordaan. But a Supreme Court of Appeal’s judgment handed down on 24 February 2026 dismissed these assertions. DM