Gay Mokoena has set the cat among the pigeons with the so-called Mokoena Report, which details his sudden exit from the acting chief executive role at Safa last month.
As much as I commend him for taking this stance, I have a problem with his timing in raising serious concerns within Safa.
This is because Mokoena has been the acting chief executive officer since November. He witnessed and experienced the so-called interference by Safa president Danny Jordaan, but didn’t say anything.
So why now? Is he raising all these governance issues because he has been kicked out of Safa? Is it because Jordaan has snatched the lollipop from his mouth so he feels aggrieved?
On the face of it, it would seem like sour grapes, something he has objected to more than once in the report.
Anyway, that’s a discussion for another day.
Mokoena’s report has raised very serious allegations that cannot and should not be taken lightly. He has accused Jordaan of running the financially ailing organisation like his fiefdom‚ flouting corporate governance principles and violating the Safa statutes.
These are serious allegations and, in my opinion, warrant a commission of inquiry. There have been calls in the past for an inquiry into football affairs. But such calls were dismissed even before they could see the light of day.
I think the current state of affairs definitely calls for one.
We can sommer demand a fresh investigation into the Bafana Bafana match-fixing scandal, the 2010 World Cup money saga and its Legacy Trust Fund.
Sports and Culture Minister Nathi Mthethwa cannot just fold his arms and watch from a distance as this drama unfolds.
As much as Fifa states that governments should not interfere in the affairs of football associations, the minister must step in when things are not going right. It can’t be right that government pumps in money, as is happening now through the Covid-19 Solidarity Fund, but keep a distance when things don’t go well. Government has to show the way.
As it is, according to Mokoena at least, there are no immediate plans at Safa to replace him. He pointed out that Safa was flouting its own constitution by operating without a head of the secretariat.
What makes matters worse is the allegation that Jordaan appointed a member of the national executive committee (NEC), Mxolisi Sibam‚ chairperson of the audit and risk committee, to do consulting work for Safa without the necessary approval from the NEC.
So, basically, he is the referee and a player at the same time. If this is not a recipe for disaster, I don’t know what is.
Mokoena also raised the issue of the Safa president allegedly “assisting” another NEC member with R30 000. Is the cash-strapped association in the business of assisting people with cash?
I must add that this is not the first time that some of these allegations have come up.
Apparently, there is another damning dossier that contains even more allegations.
But what really saddened me were the allegations that some executive members were using a WhatsApp group to call for Mokoena’s suspension.
Instead of pointing fingers at Mokoena for not following the right procedures, as they allege, the NEC should be worried about the allegations contained in his report.
How can you call for someone’s suspension without investigating the allegations?
It makes me wonder what kind of NEC members we have who would want to ignore such a serious matter and instead go for the man. Instead of tackling him, they should rather be tackling the allegations he has made. This behaviour of the said NEC members is, to put it mildly, despicable.
This is a test for all Safa NEC members to see how they will deal with the issues raised. I take my hat off to Mokoena for standing his ground, and not allowing himself to be intimidated or silenced.
He’s the kind of leader we need in our country.
It would have been easier for him to just walk away and forget about Safa, but because he cares about the organisation and the country, he opted to fight. Some people would have just walked away.
The question is: How would suspending him help the situation?
The best solution for me would be for the minister to ask the president to institute a commission of inquiry to get to the bottom of the raised issues and many others.
It’s ironic that Jordaan recently criticised the chaotic state of affairs at the Olympic body Sascoc, and now his own executive is under the spotlight over governance issues.
- Follow me on Twitter @TimspiritMolobi
| |||||||||||||
|