NKARENG MATSHE | Time for Jordaan to do some self-introspection

Danny Jordaan is never going to beat the allegations that he has turned the South African Football Association (Safa) into his own fiefdom. This after another CEO left just at a time when the association was looking to rebuild its battered image.

Some of the previous CEOs fingered Safa president Jordaan as the man solely responsible for their departure, and the latest, Tebogo Motlanthe, also seems to have grown tired of his political boss.

This week, Motlanthe was unconvincing in his denial of a resignation letter he is said to have addressed to Jordaan and the Safa national executive, in which he listed his reasons for quitting just two years into his five-year contract.

Among the most concerning revelations was that he’d been reduced to “a glorified clerk” when he should be Safa’s accounting officer, where operational decisions such as appointment of security companies and hiring of staff had been taken away from him.

It’s a pity that when faced with the media on Monday, Motlanthe again allowed himself to be turned into a “clerk” when Jordaan led his denial of the said letter, saying the departing CEO would “speak for himself” on the matter, but having cunningly set the tone for a rebuttal.

Like a hand-wringing secretary he had complained of being, Motlanthe followed Jordaan’s lead and attempted to distance himself from his own resignation letter on the basis he had not signed it. It was a painful circus to watch, but the horse had long bolted.

In his defence, let’s not forget that Motlanthe also raised a concern about planted surveillance cameras in his office, so he may have co-operated to save himself from any future torment.

That, however, doesn’t disguise the fact that yet another promising leader who had been groomed to help get Safa back on track has departed in a cloud after raising similar issues raised by his predecessors.

Jordaan is central to all these complaints and, one would have hoped, for a man of such reputable image, he would long have looked in the mirror.

It surely can’t be that so many people in the soccer body's leadership have all pointed fingers at him as their main reason for leaving Safa House.

I was at the Safa Congress in 2009 which elected Kirsten Nematandani as president after Jordaan and Irvin Khoza withdrew. Jordaan was in the Nematandani faction, whose campaign was led by Mandla "Shoes" Mazibuko. Four years later, Mazibuko was ousted, with Chief Mwelo Nonkonyana elevated to the deputy presidency. He too, didn’t last long, as he had a fallout with Jordaan which culminated in his expulsion triggered by flimsy charges.

Enter Elvis Shisana and Lucas Nhlapo, who had been elected alongside Nonkonyana. They served as vice-presidents from 2013 to 2018 and as soon as their usefulness to Jordaan ended, they were also dispensed with.

Gay Mokoena became the new favourite, and even ascended to the CEO position but he, too, departed having written a scathing letter directed at Jordaan's leadership style, following in the footsteps of one-time darling Dennis Mumble, whose dossier on Jordaan was probably the most damning.

We all remember what happened to Ria Ledwaba, after she had dared to challenge Jordaan’s alleged autocracy. Now Motlanthe is the latest to be tossed by the wayside.

Surely it can’t be that all these people who at one stage got along superbly well with Jordaan, are all on the wrong and he’s the only one right.

This should be a time for self-introspection for the man who did so much for this country’s football but is now eroding his legacy. As the saying goes, a good dancer should know when to leave the stage.