We’ll wait and see: Jordaan dribbles parliament on fourth term at Safa

South African Football Association (Safa) president Danny Jordaan dribbled past some fuming MPs in the portfolio committee on sports, arts and culture on Tuesday when asked if he would stand for a fourth term in Safa's election next year. 

Jordaan has been president of Safa since 2013, serving almost three terms in an association that admitted it is battling cash flow issues when presenting its financial statement for 2023-2024 to the committee that showed a loss of R5.4m.

Gronie Hluyo, who has been Safa's CFO since 2007, said part of the reason the association reported a deficit was because most of its national teams, especially the juniors, were not attracting sponsors, meaning the cash-strapped association has to fund them itself.

The sports ministry had to bail Safa out with R5m towards the end of last year when it failed to pay the bonuses of Bafana Bafana and Banyana Banyana players. Safa will repay that debt in the next financial year through receiving R1.7m instead of the normal annual grant of R6.7m from the department of sport. 

With Jordaan's latest term marked by endless court cases that include being charged for fraud, corruption and theft along with Hluyo, it was inevitable that in a heated debate in parliament he would be asked if he would contest next year's presidential election.

Jordaan indicated after he was elected in 2022 that he would step down after completing the present term — but on Tuesday he sang a different tune, saying he did not recall making that assurance. 

“That is the matter I will discuss with the members,” Jordaan said when he was reminded of what he said in 2022. “When did I say this?” he asked. “I don't know [if I'm available]. Members must nominate. We have to wait and see and I don't know whether they'll nominate me or not. 

“In any position in a democracy you cannot give yourself a position. You cannot decide when you stay or when you go. That's a responsibility of the 52 regions and they will take that decision.

“It's not for me to say I want to be a president. I never said that to them. They will decide when they want and what the decision they want to take.”

The members of the portfolio committee were also not happy that Safa seems to be far from addressing the issue of gender parity, with only three women, including CEO Lydia Monyepao, accompanying Jordaan to parliament on Tuesday.

“It is a fact that women are underrepresented,” Jordaan admitted. “What we've decided is that in the next congress of 52 regions, each region must have at least one woman [as a delegate, out of three]. There's one region that had an entire women's delegation. 

“Those [regions] that have two will [take the number] to 200 women in that congress. Our congress is a big gathering of people and there's significant voice of women there.”

Hluyo painted a grim picture of the finances at Safa, saying the association is in major need of sponsors, especially for its junior teams. These include the South Africa Under-20s who won the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Egypt last month despite having had poor preparation that included travelling by bus to Mozambique for the Cosafa U-20 Championship, the qualifier for the Afcon.

Safa received revenue of only R356m as sponsorship, while they had little income from their broadcast deal with the SABC, which is cash-strapped, Hluyo said. However, members of the portfolio committee said it would be difficult for them to recommend that sports minister Gayton McKenzie provide Safa with more money if the association cannot disclose the exact amount they receive from sponsors that include two betting companies, Hollywoodbets and 10bet.

“In terms of our sponsorship contracts we've got confidentiality clauses. We'll be in breach of those contracts if we disclose sponsorship agreements and their value,” Hluyo said. 

As not all members of the committee were able to ask questions, the meeting was adjourned to a date to be determined.

Jordaan welcomed that decision as he insisted Safa has nothing to hide.