Sportswire can confirm that the South African Football Association (SAFA) has initiated legal proceedings against Ria Ledwaba and Solly Mohlabeng to recover all costs incurred defending the association in court following challenges to the 2022 SAFA presidential election.
Ledwaba and Mohlabeng have repeatedly contested the legitimacy of that elective congress, where both lost by a landslide victory to Danny Jordaan. However, after taking the matter through multiple courts, every application brought by the pair was consistently dismissed with costs.
SAFA now plans to issue formal claims to both administrators.
Information received by this publication indicates that Ledwaba previously notified SAFA that she lacks the financial resources to settle the legal bills, submitting bank statements reflecting zero balances. However, an insider points out that despite paying substantial legal fees throughout four years of court battles, she has failed to reimburse the association. Consequently, SAFA’s executive leadership resolved to take formal legal steps to recover the outstanding funds from both Ledwaba and Mohlabeng.
“The South African Football Association (SAFA) intends to recover all the costs that were incurred by the Association in the Courts during the multiple legal challenges initiated by Ria Ledwaba and Solly Mohlabeng in the last four years,” said SAFA in a statement.
“Ledwaba and Mohlabeng approached numerous Courts and attempted to overturn the SAFA 2022 Presidential electoral outcome that was concluded during the SAFA Electoral Congress held at the Sandton Convention Centre on Saturday 25 June 2022.
“They also challenged their loss of standing within the SAFA structures. Dr Jordaan won the majority of the votes ahead of Ledwaba and Mohlabeng and FIFA recognised the outcome just over four years ago.
“But this did not deter the two and the matter moved through the Pretoria High Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal, and most recently, the Constitutional Court, the highest Court in the land. At every stage, the Courts consistently rejected, with costs, the Applicants’ efforts to re-litigate the outcome of the elections.
“The Constitutional Court dismissed, with costs, the application for leave to appeal a few days ago, marking the end of the road for their long-standing legal challenge against the Association. It was the seventh time in under four years that Ledwaba and Mohlabeng have failed in their legal attempts to disrupt the Association.
“Through it all, SAFA was never distracted nor deviated from its mandate to develop and serve football in this country. Banyana Banyana, Bafana Bafana, the junior national teams, the youth programmes, and the coaching and referees’ departments, among others, have all remained focused on the task at hand.
“SAFA will send the first claim to Ledwaba and Mohlabeng in the coming days and begin the process of pursuing the costs.”
The legal escalation comes after Jordaan secured a fourth term as SAFA president over the weekend, defeating AmaZulu president Sandile Zungu in Saturday’s elective congress.
