If the $10 million transfer was not a bribe, where are the records?
4 June 2015
The DA challenges Sport and Recreation Minister, Fikile Mbalula, to urgently release all records of decisions by the South African government related to the $10 million transfer SAFA directed FIFA to pay to the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association (CONCACAF).
Last night a recently unsealed transcript of a 2013 sentencing deal revealed that Chuck Blazer, FIFA’s former second highest official in the CONCACAF region from 1990 to 2011, admitted to accepting bribes.
The transcript reads: “Beginning in or around 2004 and continuing through 2011, I and others on the FIFA executive committee agreed to accept bribes in conjunction with the selection of South Africa as the host nation for the 2010 World Cup.”
This revelation makes the call for all documents and information surrounding the transfer of the $10 million to CONCACAF even more urgent to get to the bottom of these allegations.
At his press conference yesterday afternoon the Minister insisted that the transaction was above board.
If this transaction was indeed above board, why did the South African government and SAFA agree to “unconditionally” hand over $10 million, originally intended for use for the 2010 World Cup, without any plans to showcase the spending trends and financial reports from CONCACAF?
What government in their right mind hands over $10 million without documentation? To not have regular reporting on how the funds were spent is nothing short of reckless.
Both the Government and SAFA are directly implicated in the decision to transfer the money for CONCACAF’s Diaspora Legacy Programme in a letter from then President of SAFA, Molefi Oliphant to Jerome Valcke at FIFA.
In the letter that emerged this week, Mr Oliphant stated: “In view of the decision by the South African Government that an amount of US$10 million be paid to the 2010 FIFA World Cup Organising Committee South Africa, the South African Football Association requests that FIFA withholds an amount of US$10 million from the Organising Committee's future operational budget funding and thereafter advances the amount withheld to the Diaspora Legacy Programme.”
The DA wrote on Tuesday to the Minister of Sport and Recreation, Fikile Mbalula, and the President of SAFA, Danny Jordaan, to request that they release reports and budget plans pertaining to the $10 million transfer to CONCACAF. We have not yet received a response.
If this transaction is above board, as the Minister insists, it is then incumbent on SAFA and the Government to seek all records of how the money was spent. The DA challenges them to obtain this information so that South Africans can be informed as they deserve to be.
The 2010 World Cup is a proud moment in South African history and will continue to live on in the memories of our citizens, as it should.
The DA will continue to fight for answers on this issue. It is vital that we get to the bottom of this scandal to either clear the air tarnishing the World Cup or to hold those guilty of any unethical behaviour to account.
Statement issued by Solly Malatsi MP, DA Shadow Minister of Sports and Recreation, June 4 2015
