Durban — Danny Jordaan appears to have the backing of most women leaders within the South African Football Association (SAFA) ranks, Independent Media has gathered.
This comes after SAFA held their National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting at the Sandton Convention Centre yesterday.
Present at the meeting was current SAFA President Jordaan as well as Vice President Ria Ledwaba who is attempting to challenge Jordaan for the Presidency and in doing so, become the first woman President to lead the national Football Association. Solly Mohlabeng who is viewed as an outsider in the Presidential race was also present.
Anda Ntantala from the SAFA Overberg region told Independent Media that she is in support of Jordaan. Ntantala believes that while there are credible woman within the SAFA ranks, it still needs to further develop and the best way to do this is by continuing to work with Jordaan who has been at the helm of SAFA since 2013.
“Currently woman leadership within SAFA Overberg is a work in progress. A few years ago, there was only one NEC member that was a woman. Now it is totally different. There are now women at the LFA, national and regional level. I’m coming from a rural area in the Western Cape. We are given a voice to speak about issues affecting women’s football,” Ntantala told Independent Media.
While Jordaan is the firm favourite to win another term as SAFA President, he has faced criticism amidst the inability of the South African men’s national soccer team to qualify for World Cup tournaments, let alone compete on par with the best football nations in Africa. Some critics of Jordaan have accused him of being power hungry, something that Ntantala does not agree with.
Ntantala also criticized Ledwaba for running a negative campaign. She feels that Ledwaba should have also focused on positive things that SAFA has achieved over the years.
“I disagree with that (that Jordaan is power hungry). He is developing us in football. When you are a true leader coming from an organization, you cannot only say negative things about the organization. In football, you need to also talk about what you have done,” said Ntantala.
While the odds of Ledwaba winning the SAFA Presidency appear to be slim, she has received backing from the Economic Freedom Fighters and ANC Women’s League.
Earlier this week, SAFA won a legal battle from Ledwaba’s camp to stop the Elective Congress from going ahead on Saturday, June 25.
This came after the Western Cape High Court dismissed an interdict from the Kannaland Local Football Association to stop the Elective Congress.
Judge Brenda Neukircher struck Ledwaba’s interdict off the roll with punitive costs on Wednesday.
“SAFA is happy and this is further proof that the Association is doing things the correct way,” said SAFA CEO Tebogo Motlanthe.
Jordaan is set to hold a Presser ahead of the upcoming elections over the coming days.
IOL Sport