South African Football Association (Safa) acting CEO Tebogo Motlanthe has broken his silence on the latest National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting which took place on Saturday.
In the meeting, the Safa NEC resolved to removed both Ria Ledwaba and Gay Mokoena from their positions as Danny Jordaan's vice-presidents.
According to Motlanthe, the NEC made it clear that it has lost confidence in both Ledwaba and Mokoena while confirming that previously, the vice-presidents were voted for by the congress but that has since been amended, resulting in the dismissal of the pair.
"The Safa constitution was amended prior to the election, previously the vice president was voted by the Congress but now the NEC elects the vice presidents. In the meeting on Saturday, the Executive Committee said we have lost confidence in Ms Ledwaba and Mr Mokoena," Motlanthe told SA FM.
"Now, if people who have voted for you say we have no confidence in you, then you must vacate the position. That's exactly what happened. A member can be voted out at any time. It takes just one motion, for someone to stand up and say, I don't have confidence and you get support.
"To be clear, they're not voted out of the Executive, it's just that their powers to be Vice Presidents have been taken away from them. They are however still members of the NEC. This will go to the Congress, as we did with Chief Nonkonyane."
Motlanthe, who doubles up as Safa's legal head, said the association hasn't replaced Ledwaba and Mokoena, meaning the Xolile Nkomphela and Dr Irvin Khoza are the only two vice-presidents to Jordaan.
"They have not yet been replaced. But its simple, if one person stands up and says we have lost confidence, then the voting starts and we go with the majority. That's what happened in this case," continued Motlanthe.
Furthermore, Motlanthe revealed that Ledwaba was wrong to write to Minister of Sports Nathi Mthethwa in an attempt to seek intervention in the matter involving Mokoena's removal from the position of acting CEO of the country's FA, adding that Fifa rules are against her actions.
"Ms Ledwaba knows she was wrong. She is now playing with semantics by saying intervention is not interference but she wrote to the Minister, asking him to intervene. Fifa rules are clear, the government is not allowed to interfere with football matters," he added.
"If she feels the President was not responding to her, then why did she not petition us as the NEC?"
Motlanthe said Ledwaba admitted in the meeting that she might have made a mistake by writing to Mthethwa.
"She knows she was wrong. At some point in the meeting, she admitted that she might have made a mistake," he continued.
Meanwhile, Motlanthe expressed delight after his tenure as acting CEO of Safa was extended until December.
He said he didn't think twice about accepting the recommendation made by the Executive Committee, more so because he understands the association's rules better.
"I'm happy that my term has been extended to December. It was a recommendation from the NEC. I didn't hesitate to accept, because I now understand how things operate at the organization," concluded Motlanthe.
