DA submits PAIA applications to SAFA on 2010 bribery allegations 

11 June 2015

The DA will today submit applications, in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA), to the South African Football Association (SAFA) and the Department of Sport and Recreation. 

We are seeking all documents relating to the decision to pay $10 million to Jack Warner of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF).

SAFA President Danny Jordaan, and former President Molefi Oliphant, have so far failed to provide the nation with credible information refuting the bribery allegations. 

The DA believes that, at all times, the government must act honestly, transparently and in the best interests of all South Africans. While we will never forget the euphoria of the World Cup, it is only fair for the implicated officials to account to the South African people. 

It is unfortunate that we need to submit a PAIA for these documents following the ANC’s shielding of Jordaan from accounting to Parliament.

It is clear that those intimately involved in the bid process and subsequent payment are not willing to be open and honest. 

What government or organisation would authorise the payment of $10 million without documentation or regular reporting on how the funds were spent? 

It is telling that, even after the revelations that the money was not spent on what it was authorized for, neither SAFA nor the South African government has attempted to hold CONCACAF accountable.

It is for these reasons that we will submit PAIA applications to SAFA President Danny Jordaan and the Department to request the following information:

All correspondence between CONCACAF, SAFA , the 2010 bid and local organising committees and South African government officials to do with the decision to authorize the payment of $10 million to CONCACAF between 2004 and 2011, 

All documented communication between SAFA and the National Treasury to do with this payment;

All documentation between the Presidency, SAFA , the bid and local organising committees and the Department of Sport and Recreation to do with the decision to pay over the money to CONCACAF

All budgetary documents pertaining to South Africa’s bid and finances for the 2010 World Cup, between 2004 and 2011.

Decisions of this magnitude would have been documented if they were indeed above board.

Both the Government and SAFA are directly implicated in the decision to transfer the money for CONCACAF’s ‘Diaspora Legacy Programme’, first in a letter from then President of SAFA, Molefi Oliphant to Jerome Valcke at FIFA and, secondly, in a letter from then CEO of the Bid Committee, Danny Jordaan also authorising the $10 million payment to CONCACAF.

As we celebrate the five year anniversary of the 2010 World Cup this week, South Africans have every right to be proud of it. The World Cup we hosted will continue to live on in the hearts and minds of us all and stands as a testament to what can be achieved if all South Africans work together. 

The DA will continue to fight for the answers to the $10 million payment tarnishing this historic event.

Statement issued by Solly Malatsi MP, DA Shadow Minister of Sports and Recreation, June 11 2015