The PRESIDENT of MaZulu FC, Sandile Zungu, has revealed that he was persuaded to run for the presidency of the South African Football Association (Safa) with the aim of overthrowing the incumbent, Danny Jordaan, who appears to want to return to this position for a fourth term.
Jordaan, who will turn 75 years of age in September, first became the president of Safa in 2013. There are reports that indicate that he is still looking for another five years in this position.
Last weekend, Zungu, who bought AmaZulu in October 2020, and turned them into one of the most respected teams in the Premier Soccer League (PSL), went public with the media about his pleas for him to choose to run for election.
What is clear about this September election, is the clash between Safa as there is a group called Save Our Safa (SOS) who can no longer hear the story of Jordaan and the Football Transformation Forum (FTF) who are fighting for him to continue even though he is currently going to court for allegedly defrauding Safa’s money.
“For a long time, different Safa regions in South Africa have been begging me to run for this election and I finally agreed.
“After consulting with those who have better information about this step I am taking, I returned to the same organizations that begged me and told them that I am grateful for their trust in me. Therefore, I accept the nomination.
“For more than ten years holding one hand, it speaks for itself that the time for change has come.
“Apart from this, sponsors who wish to associate themselves with Safa are reluctant since the organization’s name is in the mud as (Safa) is always in the news for embarrassing reasons.
“There is a lot that needs to change in our football so that it will be in line with how successful countries are made in world football,” said Zungu.
Jordaan wants to return for a fourth term, he is the one who said that he can win the 2022 election in a landslide, and suggested the revision of the Safa constitution.
This is where the sign was opened for him to return for a third term even though there was controversy over that decision.
Another change in the constitution is the imposition of a condition that anyone who wants to run for the Safa elections must have at least 10 years of working experience at the regional levels of this organization.
This condition is the one that seems likely to disturb Zungu although it is also possible that he was talking about it when he said that he sat down with experts in order to find out if there are ways to win this election or if he is playing for himself when he enters it.
In the past years, there were those who tried to overthrow Jordaan in this position, but they ended up failing, since some of them were winning in the end, while others were defeated by votes. Among these are Ria Ledwaba, Andile “Ace” Ncobo and Lucas Radebe.