By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The fraud case involving South African Football Association (Safa) president Danny Jordaan and co-accused has been postponed after the new evidence emerged.
Jordaan, Safa CFO Gronie Hluyo and businessman Trevor Neethling appeared at the Palm Ridge specialised commercial crimes court on Friday.
The three accused face charges of fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud relating to misappropriation of R1.3 million from Safa resources.
They were arrested in November 2024 and charged with three counts of fraud, three counts of theft, and conspiracy to commit fraud and theft.
During the proceedings, it was revealed that appeals for the withdrawal of charges that were made by accused persons were dismissed by the acting South Gauteng DPP Mzukisi Sakata.
Sakata began his tenure as acting South Gauteng DPP on September 1 2025. He was appointed DPP of the Northern Cape Division of the High Court, Kimberley, with effect from April 1 2022 by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
State prosecutor Adv Moagi Malebati said Sakata informed the accused of the outcome of their representations on Thursday night.
Malebati told the court that state was ready to lead evidence after the decision the acting director of public prosecutions (DPP).
He also said there was a pending application at the high court by Jordaan and Hluyo relating to the search and seizure at Safa House.
The court also heard of the emergence of email evidence amounting to 64 gigabytes, which the State says is crucial to the case. The emails are related to Neethling and his PR company Grit Communications – which Jordaan is alleged to have hired to cleanse his public image after a rape accusation in 2017.
The State said it subpoenaed telecommunications company Afrihost in order to obtain Neethling’s emails, but not all 64 gigabytes of information obtained is related to the case, according to Malebati.
Jordaan and Hluyo’s legal representative Victor Nkwashu once again implored Magistrate Sheron Soko-Rantao to strike the matter off the court roll. Nkwashu cited how stagnant the case has been, even in its pre-trial form.
However, Malebati countered that the High Court action – which also includes a review of the lawfulness of the arrest of Hluyo and Jordaan – is the one creating the most delays in the matter.
Despite the defence’s objections and calls to have the matter struck from the roll, Malebati maintained that the state was ready to proceed with the prosecution.
“Are we ready to proceed? Yes, we are. We do have enough evidence,” the prosecutor stated.
He explained that even if the high court ruled against the admissibility of evidence obtained during the search and seizure, the state still had sufficient evidence from the original complaint to proceed.
“Our case is ready. With or without such decision information, we are prepared, we are ready to proceed with the matter,” Malebati said.
Magistrate Soko-Rantao postponed the matter to 21 November 2025, directing that the state provide a progress report on outstanding issues.
“On that date, the state will report the progress they have made, and your counsel will respond to that data. From there, we’ll see what happens,” the magistrate said.
The postponement will allow time for the high court review application to be heard and for the defence to consider their options following the rejection of their representations.
Defence attorneys indicated they may approach the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Shamila Batohi to review Sakata’s decision.