By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The corruption case against South African Football Association (SAFA) president Danny Jordaan and co-accused has been postponed to 12 September 2025.
Jordaan, Safa chief financial officer (CFO) Gronie Hluyo and businessman Trevor Neethling made a brief appearance before the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Palm Ridge, Gauteng.
Jordaan and co-accused were arrested in November 2024 for misappropriating over R1.1 million from SAFA.
The trio want their matter scrapped from the court roll, citing two outstanding legal matters whose outcomes may sway this case in their favour.
Jordaan’s legal team asked the court to review the merits of the Hawks’ raid at Safa House in March, an action which they said was “unlawful and malicious”.
The matter is currently before the Gauteng Division of the High Court; and the second matter is with regards to their arrests.
Despite the urgency falling away due to their arrests, the pair are still waiting for the matter to be heard in court, in the hopes that their arrests will be cast aside.
Neethling meanwhile made represenations to the NDPP head for charges against him to be dropped.
During the proceedings, State prosecutor Moagi Malebati told the court that no decision had been made on the accused’s representations to have their charges withdrawn.
He explained that a leadership change in the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) had caused delays.
The accused submitted representations to the office of DPP Andrew Chauke, months before his subsequent suspension by President Cyril Ramaphosa in July 2025.
Malebati, said Chauke was suspended before he could sign off on his decisions based on the feedback from the presentations by the defence.”
Chauke has temporarily been replaced by former Northern Cape DPP Livingston Mzukisi Sakata.
Sakata will assume office on 1 September, according to NPA.
James Ndebele, lawyer for Neethling, told the court that Chauke had only corresponded with him in June, four months later. Even then, it was to check whether his submissions were in their final form — something Ndebele said he had already confirmed with the DPP in February.
This highlights, with the utmost respect to him, Advocate Chauke’s incompetence,”Ndebele told the court.
“I’ve maintained for the longest time in these proceedings that my clients (Neethling and his company) are collateral damage. They are caught in the crossfire of a political smear campaign vilifying Danny Jordaan,” Ndebele added.
Jordaan and Hluyo’s legal representative Victor Nkwashu once again argued for the case to be thrown out of court as it was ruining the public image of his clients.
Nkwashu argued that his clients continued to suffer prejudice due to the ongoing case, hence they wanted it thrown out of court pending their review of the search and seizure.
He claimed that State inaction was holding up the review of the court’s rejection of the defence’s unreasonable delay application. “They are prosecuting this review in a very nonchalant manner.”
There is also another outstanding court proceeding that involves the three accused appealing against Magistrate Sheron Soko-Rantao’s decision to dismiss their Section 342A application last year.
Malebati countered this argument, saying that approaching the high court to review the merits of the search and seizure was a strategic move by Jordaan and Hluyo to strengthen their bid to have the case thrown out of court according to Section 342A.
“It is a self-created emergency by the accused. If the accused did not approach the high court with a view to have the search and seizure declared unlawful, we would not be having this problem. Because they know very well that a trial within a trial in this forum could easily deal with those issues, even quicker than the high court, “Malebati said.
Soko-Rantao expressed her frustration at having the matter once again postponed. She added that her hands were tied until at least the acting Johannesburg DPP assumed his role in September and pondered the merits of the submissions made by Ndebele, hence the postponement.
The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA’s) Johannesburg spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane confirmed to journalists after court proceedings that Sakata would temporarily replace Chauke.
“As the NPA it was impossible for us to preempt the suspension of the Director of Public Prosecutions… The minister has now appointed an acting DPP, who will assume their duties on 1 September,” Mjonondwane told journalists.
“We make a commitment as the NPA that as soon as he assumes duty, we will bring this matter to his attention and also inform him that the court has asked him to urgently deal with the matter of Jordaan and others. But there are also other outstanding matters that will seek his attention,” she added.