Payment of R21 million to SAFA NEC members amounts to vote buying
2 May 2022
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is calling for the immediate reversal of the decision taken by the South Africa Football Association (SAFA) to award R20,8 million to 40 members its National Executive Committee as honorarium.
SAFA is in no financial position to make such an outlandish financial ‘gift’ to a bloated committee that, frankly, did not accomplish much in the past two years due to Covid-19 restrictions.
It is highly suspicious that, on the eve of SAFA elections in June, NEC members are given a financial ‘bonus’ amounting to R520 000 for each member. This can easily be construed as a deliberate interference with the election process designed to keep NEC members ‘onside’.
Instead of working to rationalise the bloated NEC Executive, as recommended by FIFA, SAFA has chosen to retain the status quo and maintain it through questionable ‘honorarium payments’. South African football is beset by systemic challenges which SAFA has failed to address and this makes the financial ‘gifts’ to NEC members highly irregular.