FIFA Bribery: DA to move for urgent parliamentary briefing
5 June 2015
Following the release of a further letter authorizing the $10 million payment to CONCACAF, this time from Dr Danny Jordaan, a parliamentary briefing on the bribery allegations can no longer be delayed.
The DA has today written to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Sport and Recreation, Beauty Dlulane, demanding a firm commit to summoning Dr Danny Jordaan before the Committee.
Jordaan, Molefi Oliphant and other key officials need to present their case to the South African people on the allegations of corruption that threaten to blemish the 2010 World Cup, which all of us regard as a beacon of national pride.
The DA wrote to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee a week ago to request that she summon SAFA President and then CEO of the Bid Committee, Dr Danny Jordaan, to account. The Committee decided to wait and see what further developments would emerge and did not commit firmly to deal with these allegations.
We do not want to hear details of the alleged corruption from international organisations and individuals, bit by bit. The quickest way for our South African officials to clear their names, or clarify, is for a parliamentary briefing to urgently take place.
South African’s deserve to hear the truth from the mouths of our own officials. It is high time that the individuals come forward with the critical information which will enable us to get to the bottom of the issue.
Minister Mbalula has stated that “We have put all the facts out there”. This is a clearly misleading declaration.
Almost every day since this scandal broke, new pieces of information have come to light. Therefore an inquiry established as an act of Parliament must and should summon all members of the Bid Committee and any government officials who were intimately involved in the bid process for the 2010 World Cup.
It is important to note that the DA maintains that the 2010 Soccer World Cup, as an event, was highly successful and a memory that should be cherished by all South Africans. We must, as with all allegations of corruption, no matter how painful, get the truth to ensure that those who are guilty are held to account.
Statement issued by Solly Malatsi MP, DA Shadow Minister of Sports and Recreation, June 5 2015
