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Four members of the Safa national executive committee (NEC) are heading to court on Friday in a bid to set aside their suspension or force the association to agree to an arbitration process.
Gladwyn White, Orapeleng Setlhare, Monde Montshiwa and Emma Hendricks filed an affidavit in the Mahikeng high court imploring it to interdict Safa from suspending them so they can participate in NEC meetings and next week’s scheduled constitutional congress.
Vernon Seymour, legal representative for the four, confirmed the matter would be heard in the North West as they couldn’t find a court date in Gauteng. “We’ve not been able to get Safa to agree to arbitration because they claim it is premature,” he said.
“They say our clients must wait for a disciplinary hearing, but we have not been furnished with details of when this would be held nor what charges they are facing.”
Seymour has now headed to court to “ask for a stay of implementation” of the suspension. “Basically, we want the court to park the suspension until the matter has been resolved through arbitration,” he added.
[Our suspension] will not stand legal scrutiny as it lacks justification
— The Safa four
In the affidavit, which was filed on Monday and which Sowetan has seen, the four argue their suspension, which came into effect following a Safa emergency committee meeting that followed the chaotic March 7 NEC meeting, “will not stand legal scrutiny as it lacks justification”.
“It is submitted that on a balance of probabilities, not granting interim relief would result in a grave injustice to the applicants and the constituents they represent.”
The four allege their suspension was an orchestrated plan to exclude them from crucial meetings, including the Safa congresses set for May 23 and 24, and accuse Safa president Danny Jordaan of “driving a personal vendetta”.
It is believed Jordaan will seek a fourth term when Safa holds an elective congress later this year, and the four allege they’re being punished for attempting to hold him accountable for “governance failures” and also his pending case before the Joburg commercial crimes court.
“Safa practices selection and inconsistent disciplinary action in that the applicants are accused of bringing the association into disrepute, but its president is on trial for fraud, yet no action was taken against him. There is no lawful basis for the suspension. It is in breach of article 34 of the Safa statutes,” the four argue in their affidavit.
The deadline for Safa to submit an answering affidavit was yesterday, but it was unclear if it was met.
