Latest news with #R5m
TimesLIVE
15 hours ago
- Business
- TimesLIVE
Cash-strapped Safa far from assuring Amajita's bonuses for winning U-20 Afcon
The Amajita team is unlikely to receive bonuses for winning the Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt in May. This after SA Football Association (Safa) CEO Lydia Monyepoa revealed after its congress at the weekend that the costs of running the team exceed what the association received for winning the event. There were expectations that Amajita, who also qualified for the 2025 Fifa Under-20 World Cup in Chile later this year, would be rewarded for their efforts. Amajita, who received R3.6m for winning the tournament for the first time with coach Raymond Madaka in Egypt, qualified for the World Cup with Morocco, Egypt and Nigeria. Egypt have been pitted against Chile, New Zealand and Japan in Group A, while in Group C Morocco, who lost to SA in the final, will face Mexico, Brazil and Spain in a 'group of death' in the tournament. Amajita should fancy their chances of progressing in Group E where they'll meet USA, France and New Caledonia. Nigeria is in Group F with Colombia, Norway and Saudi Arabia. Safa posted a deficit of more than R5m in its 2024 financial statement at the congress, and expressed concern about many junior national teams not attracting sponsors despite their recent successes.
TimesLIVE
4 days ago
- Sport
- TimesLIVE
Banyana strike resolved, Safa says, as step-aside motion for Jordaan fails to materialise
The South African Football Association (Safa) admitted its role in a strike by Banyana Banyana in Morocco in the days leading up to their defence of their Women's Africa Cup Nations (Wafcon) title after its congress at Sandton Convention Centre on Saturday. A step-aside motion for president Danny Jordaan, which would have been brought by four disgruntled regions, did not materialise but the Safa boss still had to defend his legal battles amid criminal charges and how that affects the association financially, which posted a R5m deficit. Banyana apparently downed tools for training on Thursday and Friday ahead of their July 7 kickoff against Ghana in Oujda over unpaid bonuses for their friendlies against Malawi and Zambia in April and June, though the impasse was resolved. Safa said they trained again on Saturday. 'That matter has been resolved — the CEO [Lydia Monyepao] and vice-president [Linda] Zwane dealt with it,' Jordaan said. Zwane played down the strike as arising from the 'minor issue of payments for the previous games, particularly the Malawi game, which the association has undertaken to address'. Monyepao said the disagreement was over the dates for the payments. She was asked how, given the huge controversy that erupted when Banyana went on strike ahead of the 2023 World Cup over bonuses not being agreed, Safa had not learnt from its mistakes. She said this time Safa had agreed on the tournament bonuses with the players. She said the association sent correspondence to the players on June 22 communicating when the outstanding past bonuses would be paid, but Banyana were no happy with the arrangement. She suggested Safa's cash flow problems were the root of the payments not being made timeously. Jordaan admitted the issue for Safa is it has '10 national teams but only two of those — Bafana Bafana and Banyana — have sponsors'. He was asked if, in the interests of Safa's image, he should not step aside given the association is battling to attract financial backers. Jordaan said no step-aside motion was made at the congress. 'What the members recognise is there are three [media] publications in the country out of more than 300, over the last year, that beat the same drum and still went on to beat it this morning. 'Nothing happened here. We had a successful congress, we dealt with all the reports, we had debates and Safa is intact. But if you read those three newspapers you will see a different picture generated. 'Of the matters in the court [against Jordaan] three have already been withdrawn.' In February three theft charges against Jordaan and one of his co-accused, Safa CFO Gronie Hluyo, were withdrawn — three counts of fraud and one of conspiracy to commit fraud remain. Jordaan attempted to portray a congress that was business as usual where the 52 regions and 11 associate members 'endorsed and celebrated the progress made in South African football'. He said this was supported by the performances of Bafana and Banyana, men's under-17s reaching their World Cup and U-20s winning South Africa's first-ever U-20 Africa Cup of Nations, and Mamelodi Sundowns competing strongly at the Fifa Club World Cup in the US. A financial statement posting a R5m deficit was 'approved unanimously by the members' and a turnaround strategy was accepted 'as a new path to follow'. However, one of the opposing members to Jordaan, who did not want to be named, said the congress was 'very heated'. They said the faction that wanted to bring a step-aside motion tested the waters on a vote on another matter and realised they did not have the numbers. They said they will regroup and try to get the numbers by the next congress in December. 'Some members were frustrated because that meeting dragged and some went outside. We managed to pass an activity report through by 23 votes to 17. The margin was not big and with the number abstaining — 10 — and members outside, we were no longer certain about who was with us,' they said.
TimesLIVE
6 days ago
- Politics
- TimesLIVE
More than R5m in taxpayers' money spent to fund suspended police salaries — Mchunu
SAPS has spent more than R5m to fund the salaries of 11 suspended police officers over the past three years. This was revealed by police minister Senzo Mchunu in a written reply to a recent parliamentary question by Build One SA (Bosa). By May 16, two lieutenant-generals suspended since 2022 have been paid more than R4m without working. Other officers suspended with full pay include sergeants and constables, with their payments ranging from R35,000 to R56,000 each. Bosa spokesperson Roger Solomons criticised the payments, citing a shortage of police resources to respond to crime. 'This is an affront to every South African living in fear, waiting hours for the police to respond, only to be told there are no vehicles, no officers and no capacity. Meanwhile, senior officers who should be leading the fight against crime are being paid millions to sit at home. 'While communities are under siege, SAPS continues to waste resources on suspended officials instead of bolstering front-line policing.' Mchunu previously said the country has a shortage of detectives, with 2,344 vacant posts. Solomons said this shows SAPS's failure in leadership and accountability. 'A culture that tolerates delayed disciplinary processes, shields incompetence and rewards misconduct cannot deliver safety to the people of South Africa. 'Bosa calls for urgent disciplinary case finalisation for suspended officers and transparency reports every quarter on SAPS suspensions and costs.'
TimesLIVE
7 days ago
- Business
- TimesLIVE
Lucas Radebe says Danny Jordaan must leave Safa
The SA Football Association (Safa) will report a R5m deficit when it conducts its long-awaited ordinary congress this weekend, painting a picture of an organisation in dire financial straits. The constant reports of alleged financial and administrative disarray at Safa prompted legendary Bafana Bafana captain Lucas Radebe to say Danny Jordaan should step down as the association's president. According to the latest financial report, prepared by Safa financial committee chair Mxolisi Sibam, the main reasons for the challenging financial position are high bonuses paid to national teams and spiralling staff costs due to enormous salaries. As a result, Safa's 'liquidity remains tight' and this could lead to 'potential solvency risks'. 'The largest expenditure item was the R150m (or 40% of revenue) paid in performance bonuses to players and technical staff,' reads Sibam's report for the financial year ending June 2024. . However, Safa received R160m from the Confederation of African Football (Caf) and Fifa as participation fees for Bafana Bafana and Banyana Banyana in last year's Africa Cup of Nations and the 2023 Women's World Cup, respectively, taking its turnover to R386m, which was an increase from R239m in 2023. Sibam's report further states Safa pays high salaries to its staff but curiously remains silent on the bloated national executive committee, which Fifa recommended more than a decade ago it must be trimmed 'It is also important to note that salaries and remuneration within the association remain relatively high when benchmarked against other comparable national football associations. The finance committee has identified this as an area requiring review to ensure sustainability and efficiency,' reads the report. Safa will report a 17% increase in assets to R193m, but Sibam states that liabilities remain a problem. 'Total liabilities rose to R207m from R172m in 2023, while current liabilities increased to R197m.' [WATCH] Portfolio Committee on Sport, Arts and Culture's Liam Jacobs questions SAFA president Danny Jordan on whether he... Posted by Newzroom Afrika on Tuesday, June 3, 2025 Saturday's congress comes two weeks after Safa's leadership was grilled in parliament over allegations of misgovernance. At the weekend, Bafana legend Radebe said Jordaan, who has been in office since 2013, should not consider serving another term as the association's president. 'He shouldn't even be there at this stage, it's long overdue that he leaves,' the former Leeds United captain told Sowetan. 'He should give others a chance. I followed the conversation [when Safa reported to the sports portfolio committee in parliament this month] and it seems they [Safa] want to reason that they don't see anyone who can succeed him. It's all politics.' Radebe said that while South Africa was seeing great performances from national teams, such as the Under-20s, who recently lifted the junior African Cup of Nations for the first time, that energy was not matched by delivery in Safa's administration under Jordaan's leadership. 'We are performing on the field but are lacking in the office. We know exactly where change is needed,' he said.
IOL News
24-06-2025
- IOL News
The shocking police errors that freed five men in a R5 million copper cable trial
Copper that was alleged to have been stolen by the five men who were acquitted of all charges by the Pinetown Regional Court on Tuesday. Image: eThekwini Municipality The Pinetown Regional Court has acquitted five men of all charges relating to 24 tons of stolen copper cable belonging to eThekwini Municipality and Telkom, estimated at R5 million, due to the unacceptable conduct of the police in the case. On Tuesday afternoon, Magistrate Muntukayise Khumalo told Sudashon Chetty, Simosakhe Chiliza, Richard Mnguni, Thulasizwe Ngcobo, and Mthokozisi Mchunu that they were free to go. The accused faced charges of possessing suspected stolen property (ferrous or non-ferrous metal) in that on February 2, 2023, in Pinetown, the accused were found in the unlawful possession of copper cables valued at R5m. After the State closed its case, the defence counsel for the accused, advocate Bonga Zulu, applied for the discharge of his clients in terms of Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act. Zulu argued that there was no evidence upon which a reasonable court acting carefully might convict on the evidence placed before the Regional Court. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading Handing down his ruling, Magistrate Khumalo said the evidence of the State was so bad that no reasonable court acting carefully could convict it. He criticised the conduct of Warrant Officer Pillay (first name not known). He said the police received an anonymous tip-off about the loading of copper at a crime scene. He said instead of the police using that information to build up a strong case, they decided to break into the premises without any reasonable grounds for believing that a crime was being committed. Magistrate Khumalo said when WO Pillay arrived at the crime scene premises, he pressed an intercom and when there was no response, he jumped over the gate without any warrant authorising him to do so. 'This conduct from a senior police officer with years of experience is disappointing,' he said. Additionally, he said the case was bungled by Pillay, either intentionally in order to assist the first accused, Chetty, who is his cousin, or through incompetence on his part. He said the other unfortunate part of the evidence in this case is that it seems the search and seizure was influenced by the private companies involved as would appear from Constable Clothier's evidence that upon arrival of Barbara Cloete, she told Chetty that she had always wanted him for a long time, and that at last she had got him. Cloete works for eThekwini's electricity department. Constable Clothier further stated that before Cloete could look at anything, she said: 'Something is definitely mine here.' 'These utterances are unfortunate and suggest that Chetty had been under surveillance for a long time, and that is why the police were reckless in their investigation after receiving information,' Magistrate Khumalo added. Moreover, the magistrate said it was also surprising that one of the trucks had a lock at the back, and the police cut the lock to access the back of the truck without the owner's consent or a warrant, violating the law.
