A letter was sent to members of SAFA to inform them that Solly Mohlabeng is suspended pending a disciplinary hearing and that Ria Ledwaba is now practically banned from football activities. See the letter below.
The disciplinary hearing will be on Monday, March 11, 2024, at SAFA House from 10:00 a.m.
We will attend.
It is said in the letter and the summons that part of the charge is that Solly participated in talking SAFA to court to overturn the elections. It’s a lie. Solly took to the court to compel SAFA to facilitate an arbitration to hear his and Ria’s dispute over governance issues, not elections.
We have noticed that SAFA’s weak responses to issues almost always go unchallenged by its members. But it must be placed on record that SAFA deliberately distorts the facts to make itself smell like roses all the time against its opponents. There is absolutely no intellectual posturing whatsoever. This is partially why we say there is no leadership at SAFA. Absolutely none, especially in the chair of the President.
Okay, they act as though the court matter is over. We wonder why they are not communicating with their members on this very letter that they have distributed with much aggression today that the same Solly and Ria have appealed the very judgment that SAFA is raving about and even making ‘bold‘ decisions based thereon. Why is that fact not in the letter sent to members today?
They are raving about a flawed judgment. You don’t have to be a legal expert to see that a judgment on a simple matter that was reserved (delayed) for more than four months is flawed. The judge went to town to discuss the merits of the dispute, which were not fully ventilated in court. The ask was for him to determine whether SAFA erred by refusing to refer the matter to arbitration according to the SAFA statutes, aided by other controls, including FIFA statutes, and not to determine whether there was a dispute. He did not have to rule on the merits of the dispute itself. See the judgment here below:
For compliance’s sake, Solly will attend the disciplinary hearing and will argue the matter appropriately therein.
Two things make for an interesting thought about the timing of this matter.
- On March 16th, 2024, SAFA Tshwane will hold its Ordinary Congress. Is this part of the destabilization strategy for SAFA Tshwane by the ones in power to eliminate Solly? The entire SAFA Tshwane region will have something to say about that.
- In April, SAFA National will be holding its Ordinary Congress. Are they so hell-bent to avoid him attending that event? Are they so fearful of his views and fearless demeanor?
We have been saying that there is currently no forum or process within SAFA that can fairly and transparently ventilate and provide a path to reviewing, dealing with, and resolving any matter which is either not supported by the SAFA President or that challenges the SAFA President. The President of SAFA has weakened that institution so badly that it is no longer able to operate without checking for his temperature before it acts on anything brought to it. So by refusing to take the matter to arbitration, SAFA (Danny Jordaan) is effectively silencing the dessenting views. We will not accept that as people of South Africa and fellow football officials.
We therefore request support from all Members of SAFA Tshwane and, ultimately, Members of SAFA to deal with this rot in governance that is being propagated by the current President of SAFA. Your support will go a long way in correcting the ills of SAFA. President Solly Mohlabeng will continue to put his heart, mind, and soul on the line against the beast, and your support will propel him. And this starts with the upcoming SAFA Tshwane Congress on March 16, 2024.
On an unrelated matter, a report making the rounds in the media says that the Hawks have raided SAFA House for information in relation to the graft amounting to R1.3 million.
Also Read from:
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- Eye Witness News
- Independent Online (IOL)
- MSN
After this, watch the response from SAFA. It will be nothing short of what is expected. They will appoint someone from within SAFA to craft a statement as if it is from a SAFA collective, refute any allegations, claim conspiracies of an attempt to derail Bafana Bafana or Banyana Banyana from something, and then give some stats or facts about the recent successes.
But we know that this investigation is serious and is only about the private security and public relations issues being reported. There is more, including a Fun Valley procurement issue and, hopefully, the use of SAFA funds to mount and fund a private defense in a US FIFA case. The cases opened by the former NEC member are authentic and valid and deserve to be investigated thoroughly. If not now, well, these are still coming.
But if one looks into this matter from an organisational perspective and without any persuasion by propaganda, one will see what we have always been saying – Danny Jordaan has very little regard for governance. This is the conduct that Solly and Ria are trying to take to arbitration following the March 2022 (not June 2022) Congress.
Once more, we urge all the people of South Africa to give Solly Mohlabeng and Ria Ledwaba support in fighting the erosion of governance at SAFA. Your support will be the wind beneath their wings. This is not a bread-buttering issue, as many have postured themselves for the longest time. This is a matter of football.
As the police are now beginning to show interest in dealing with these matters, there is trust that the NPA will pick up the energy on this, as there are current documents in their hands about the related matters, and that there will be a movement towards bringing football back into the hands of the people of South Africa.
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