Safa to elevate new CEO as 'clerk’ Motlanthe leaves

As the South African  Football Association (Safa) prepares to install another chief executive following the shock resignation of Tebogo Motlanthe, a letter purportedly written by the departing CEO – in which he apparently complains he had been reduced to a “glorified clerk” – has emerged. 

Safa has called a press conference for this morning, which sources say will confirm chief operations officer Lydia Monyepao as an interim replacement for Motlanthe, after the latter quit in a huff on Friday.

Sowetan has seen a resignation letter supposedly written by Motlanthe and addressed to Safa president Danny Jordaan and the national executive committee. Motlanthe could not be reached for comment to establish the authenticity of the letter.

Five burning issues which pushed him to tender his resignation are listed in the letter, top among them the “planting of cameras in my office”.

“I was alerted about unusual activities in my office and I was shown pieces of the downloaded material and promised I would be furnished with the entire hard drive, and to date this was not done,” Motlanthe wrote. “I was told by the security company that the hard drive was given to Mr (Tankiso) Modipa (NEC member) and to date I don’t have a reason why it is not given to me. My constitutional right to privacy was tampered with and not being privy to what is on the hard drive continues to give me sleepless nights.”

He also laments the appointment of security companies without procurement, warning such practice could have “serious implications in future, and nobody seems to care”.

In a line that sounded familiar with what his predecessors bemoaned before they similarly departed Safa House, Motlanthe stated: “I cannot say I am in charge proudly because a lot is happening on (a) daily basis and it is safe to say I am now a glorified clerk, and that doesn’t sit well with me.” He did not specify what exactly he was referring. But two of his more recent predecessors, Dennis Mumble and Gay Mokoena, complained about Jordaan superseding the CEO’s office and allegedly assuming the role of executive president.

In the said letter, Motlanthe also complains about Safa filling positions that are not in the association’s organogram at a huge cost, calling this a “flawed recruitment process”.  Worryingly, he stated he was no longer happy to be in Safa’s employ as it took a toll on his health. “My health has taken a knock and it will be unfair to you, Safa and the entire leadership if I continue half-heartedly,” he told Jordaan in the letter.

If she is confirmed in the position today as expected, Monyepao will be Safa’s seventh CEO since 2010 after Leslie Sedibe, Robin Petersen, Mumble, Mokoena, Russell Paul and now Motlanthe vacated the position.

Meanwhile, Safa spokesman Mninawa Ntloko confirmed an emergency committee meeting was held yesterday and that it resolved to fill Motlanthe's position immediately. "We will confirm the appointment of a CEO (today), whether in an acting capacity or permanent, I'm not sure, let's wait for the press conference."