Jordaan faces fraud charges for allegedly misusing R1.3 million of Safa’s funds for personal gain.
South African Football Association (Safa) President Danny Jordaan is expected to file a formal application to have his case struck off the role pending two cases in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg.
Jordaan, Safa Chief Financial Officer Gronie Hluyo, and businessman Trevor Neethling appeared at the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Palm Ridge on Thursday.
Watch Danny Jordaan in court
[WATCH] The fraud case against SAFA boss Danny Jordaan and his co-accused has been postponed to December 10 at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court. #Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/MJBkz3RzUM
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) December 5, 2024
During court proceedings, Jordaan appeared nonchalant with the Magistrate instructing the Safa president to stop chewing gum in court.
“Mr Jordaan, can you please remove the chewing gum that you are chewing in court,” the Magistrate requested.
The matter has been postponed to the 10th of December.
Charges
The trio has been charged with fraud for allegedly misusing R1.3 million of the association’s funds for personal gain. They are currently each out on R20,000 bail.
During proceedings on Thursday, the state opposed Advocate Norman Arendse as Jordaan’s legal representative, alleging that the advocate is conflicted as he does legal work for Safa and its structures.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said the court will be hearing two separate applications when the matter resumes next week.
“The court will be hearing two separate applications. One by the state where we are alleging that the lawyer representing Mr Jordaan is conflicted and we may be bringing such evidence before court and then the court can then take a decision.”
Mjonondwane said if the court finds that Arendse is conflicted, then Jordaan will have to find another legal representative.
“The second application is brought by the accused persons, they are citing unreasonable delays and bringing an application of Section 342A of the Criminal Procedure Act.”
Section 342A of the Criminal Procedure Act allows a court to investigate and address unreasonable delays in criminal proceedings.
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High Court applications
In November, when Jordaan and Hluyo were made aware that they would be arrested, they approached the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg for an interdict.
In court papers, Jordaan argued that Safa had launched review proceedings against the search-and-seizure warrants issued that allowed the Hawks to raid its offices in March.
He contended that the raid was the basis for the arrests.
Jordaan further argued that if the warrants were set aside as unlawful, all the evidence gathered would also be illegal.
Jordaan’s attempt to interdict his arrest and raid was reportedly unsuccessful because of an issue with the case number.
It was also not listed on the court roll when it was set to be heard last month, indicating flaws with it. It is not clear whether it has since been refiled and when these matters will now be heard. Any update will be included once received.
Delays
Arendse argued that the application would “inevitably result in the criminal prosecution being delayed”.
“For that reason, it wouldn’t make sense to waste valuable judicial resources and to postpone this matter repeatedly from time to time while those applications are being heard. We don’t know what the outcome is going to be and whether that may be subject to further appeals from the accused or from Safa, we don’t know,” Arendse argued.
“The state objected to Arendse bringing the Section 342A application.
Corruption
It is alleged that from 2014 to 2018, Jordaan allegedly used the organisation’s resources for personal gain, including hiring a private security company for personal protection and a public relations company without the board’s authorisation.
Last month, several political parties including the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) called for Jordaan to be removed as head of the football body.
However, Safa vice-president Bennet Bailey told reporters that Jordaan had no intention of stepping down.
