JOHANNESBURG – Reports suggest that Gay Mokoena shot himself in the foot over the verbal agreement of continuing as acting chief executive of Safa, albeit his contract having come to an end.
In recent weeks, the governing body has come under fire for a variety of reasons, which includes the unfair dismissal of staff members. However, it was the resignation of former chief executive Mokoena that intensified the possible underlying problems at the association.
In a letter seen by IOL Sport, entitled “Mokoena Report”, Mokoena accused Safa president Danny Jordaan of flouting corporate governance principles and the organisation’s statutes, particularly when it came to appointments and the sacking of NEC members. In his report, Mokoena bemoaned how his five-month stint with the association unceremoniously came to an end.
Following the resignation of Russell Paul, who has since taken a post of being part of the 2022 World Cup organising committee in Qatar, Mokoena was appointed to hold the role of acting chief executive from November 2019 to February 2020.
“During the meeting of the NEC in October, I had indicated that due to my business commitment, I would be available for three or four months to assist,” Mokoena said in the introduction of the details of his contract.
“When we negotiated the details of the contract with the president, I added another month and made it five months, ie from November 2019 to March 2020. We signed the contract only in February 2020 because of the hectic programme of the president.”
However, working merely on principle and integrity, without something written and signed, has since proven to be a negative for Mokoena.
Such that as much as the terms of his stint were verbally agreed, so were his - extended - last days with the association.
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— SAFA.net (@SAFA_net) April 23, 2020
With his contract ending on March 31, Mokoena continued to work for the association - through interactions he had with Jordaan - until April 14, the day their relation came to an abrupt end after the pair agreed that the “staff reduction plan” should be drafted and implemented by a permanent chief executive.
Upon the gentleman’s agreement - which Mokoena stated happened via a phone call - Jordaan suggested that the then chief executive must be paid half his salary for the month of April by the chief financial officer Gronie Hluyo.