By: Mpho Sekharume

Danny Jordaan’s iron grip at the helm of the South African Football Association (SAFA) has consistently brought the organisation, as well as his leadership under intense scrutiny for just over a decade now.

From theft and rape charges to financial mismanagement and reported repressive leadership, the 73-year-old SAFA president’s tainted image continues to plunder SAFA deep into a dark abyss that might see his successors inherit an irreversible calamity - should he step down.

While several internal attempts to remove him have fallen through, SAFA has continued to bear the brunt of his leadership - considering the constant eruption of spontaneous controversies that continue to blemish his reign at the summit of South Africa’s football.

This was sufficiently reflected in the outcomes of parliament's sports portfolio committee where a SAFA delegation, including Jordaan and SAFA Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Gronie Hluyo, where grilled about the organisation’s state of governance, particularly its current financial standing.

When asked whether SAFA was in a strong financial position, Hluyo retorted with a concession that the organisation was indeed in dire straits.

“No, SAFA is not in a strong financial position,” said a very timid Hluyo in response to a burning question by parliamentary committee member, Liam Jacobs.

While ineffectively attempting to give assurance that the situation was being remedied, Jacobs followed up with another frank question where he sought to find out who was responsible for the decline of SAFA as an organisation.

“It is the whole organisation,” Hluyo responded, “It is the executive management, it is the NEC, it is the whole organisation.”

Hluyo’s admission and implication painted a grim picture of an organisation that is aware of its financial shortcomings but still fails to manage its reserves efficiently.

With evidence tabled in front of him, Jacobs further put it firmly to SAFA that the organisation had, in fact doubled its financial deficit due to prevalent financial unaccountability.

“Your current liabilities severely outweigh your current assets.

“This means your ability to meet your financial expectations is severely hampered by the fact that your financial expectations are more than your ability to account for them,” said Jacobs.

Before his ascension to the presidency of SAFA, Jordaan served as CEO of the football authority for just over a decade and was duly recognised for significantly increasing the organisation's revenue during this tenure. It makes it more perplexing that SAFA now finds itself mismanaging funds under his presidency.

In January this year, Jordaan, Hluyo and former journalist turned businessman, Trevor Neethling, were arrested on charges of fraud, theft and conspiracy to commit fraud and theft. Neethling owns Grit Communications, which was allegedly appointed by Jordaan personally to provide public relations services without following the due SAFA process, according to the charges levelled by the State.

The three were granted R20 000 bail each, and the trial has been postponed to 15 August 2025 to allow for the “ventilation of all outstanding matters, which includes a review application filed by the trio’s defence after the magistrate dismissed their application to have the case struck off the roll. The theft charges have also since been withdrawn.

SAFA’s financial difficulties were further cast into the spotlight once again recently by Banyana Banyana’s training boycott saga, leading up to their opening fixture of the Women’s African Cup of Nations (WAFCON) tournament, which took place in Morocco last month.

The women’s national team staged a stay-in protest decrying the non-payment of salaries and outstanding bonuses for their national team camps in April and June this year.

Although the boycott was somewhat resolved, with SAFA committing to make the due payments and Banyana Banyana ultimately playing to a fourth-place finish in the tournament, this incessant issue was once again brought to life by stalwart Jermaine Seoposenwe in a radio interview with Robert Marawa on Marawa Sports Worldwide.

The talented striker, who had initially announced her retirement from national football after WAFCON on her social media platforms on 16 June 2025, candidly told Marawa that the “ill treatment” they were getting from SAFA was one of the main reasons she threw in the towel.

“I haven’t been happy in the national team for a long time but obviously continuing to push through those emotions and those feelings has been tough,” Seoposenwe revealed.

She continued: “It’s definitely the association and treatment of us in many instances. I think I tried to wrap my head around it but it's difficult as a player, especially being overseas and in an environment where our directors and the club try to make everything as equal as possible.”

Financial disputes and poor communication channels have become an inherent part of governance at SAFA. A similar incident happened back in July 2023 when Banyana boycotted their send-off match against Botswana ahead of the FIFA Women’s World Cup which was co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

The stayaway forced SAFA to put together a makeshift team to honour the scheduled Botswana fixture.

“Every time we go to a major tournament, we have to fight about money and basically everything. Why do we have to fight? Why can’t you plan out for the year? FIFA gives you a calendar of what we are going to do…why can’t you budget for those FIFA dates? Why is it so impossible for you to do well by us?” Seoposenwe queried.

From being a visionary leader who once turned SAFA into a profitable football entity to now being accused of all sorts of crimes that have brought nothing but disgrace to the organisation, it is quite clear that Jordaan's leadership is catastrophic.

Jordaan’s list of controversies since becoming SAFA president in 2013:

2015: 

•         The 2008 FIFA corruption case comes back to haunt Jordaan. While he was head of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee, South Africa allegedly made a $10 million payment to a football body led by Jack Warner, which was later investigated as a possible bribe for the 2010 FIFA World Cup bid. Jordaan has admitted to the payment but denied it was a bribe.
• He is also criticized for holding dual roles as SAFA president and mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay.

2017:

• Former ANC MP and singer Jennifer Ferguson publicly accuses Jordaan of raping her in 1993. Jordaan denies the allegations, claiming they are part of a political campaign against him.
• The State alleges that Jordaan hired a public relations firm (Grit Communications) in December to protect his image following the rape allegations.

2020:

•         Damning reports from former SAFA executives Gay Mokoena and Dennis Mumble are made public. They allege that Jordaan had turned SAFA into his “personal fiefdom” and made decisions without consulting the National Executive Committee. One NEC Member opened a criminal case against him,

2024:

•         SAFA's headquarters get raided by the Hawks as part of an investigation into financial misconduct, with Jordaan identified as a main suspect. Jordaan, Hluyo and Neethling, are subsequently arrested. The three get charged with fraud and theft related to the alleged misuse of SAFA funds between 2014 and 2018. The charges of theft are later withdrawn, but the fraud charges remain.