South African Football Association (SAFA) president Danny Jordaan, SAFA Chief Financial Officer Gronnie Hluyo and businessman Trevor Neethling have been granted R20,000 each following their court appearance in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sitting in Palm Ridge Magistrates, on Wednesday.
The trio were arrested early on Wednesday morning on charges of fraud and theft amounting to R1.3million.
Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) spokesperson, Colonel Katlego Mogale, said the conditions imposed included that the trio should not interfere with the witnesses.
"Neethling and Hluyo must surrender their passports to the investigating officer while Dr Jordaan was allowed to retain his passport, he must report to the court before travel and until such time that his position at SAFA changes then the condition will be revised," Mogale said.
She added that in relation to outside travel Dr Jordaan should avail himself to the court.
"Neethling and Hluyo should apply to the court to travel outside the Republic of South Africa as the need arises, and not to change their verified addresses. The case was postponed to December 5 for docket disclosure," Mogale said.
Charges explained
According to the National Prosecuting Authority, they were all charged with three counts of fraud, three counts of theft, and conspiracy to commit fraud and theft.
NPA spokesperson, Phindi Mjonondwane, explained that the allegations stem from a 12-month Service Level Agreement (SLA) allegedly entered by SAFA, represented by Jordaan, and Grit Communications in December 2017 for the provision of Public Relations and communication services to SAFA.
"The State alleges that Jordaan, in contravention of the SAFA statutes, signed the SLA that was neither sanctioned nor approved by SAFA, and that he and Neethling backdated the agreement to 01 October 2017. Jordaan is alleged to have employed Grit Communications for purposes of protecting his personal image following allegations of rape levelled against him in 2017.
"Furthermore, that he allegedly acquired protection services worth over R40 000, purported to be for SAFA from Badger Security, during the SAFA 2018 elective congress, whilst these protection services were allegedly exclusively rendered to him," she said.
Mjonodwane added that according to SAFA statutes, Jordaan was precluded from doing so, as only the CFO and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SAFA were authorised to sign contractual agreements.
"The PR services were already rendered to SAFA by its existing department that handled PR and communication. Despite full knowledge of the unauthorised and unlawful nature of the actions of both Jordaan and Neethling, it is alleged that Hluyo approved the payments to Grit Communications and Badger Security," she said.
Initial article
South African Football Association (SAFA) president Dr Danny Jordaan and two others have been arrested on charges related to a R1.3 million fraud and theft racket. He is expected to appear in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sitting in Palm Ridge Magistrates court on Wednesday.
Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) spokesperson, Colonel Katlego Mogale said warrants have been issued for the arrest of two prominent SAFA executive officers, aged 73 and 55, together with a 46-year-old businessman were executed on Wednesday morning.
“This follows an intensive investigation by the Serious Commercial Crime Investigation based in Johannesburg into allegations of R1.3 million fraud and theft,” Mogale said.
She said the allegations stem from claims that between 2014 and 2018, the president of SAFA used the organisation's resources for his personal gain including hiring a private security company for his personal protection, a Public Relations company without authorisation from the SAFA board.
Mogale said the Serious Commercial Crime Investigation charged with probing the allegations, executed search seizure warrants in March at SAFA’s offices where an assortment of electronic gadgets and files were seized for further investigation, leading to the arrests.
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