As the South African Football Association (SAFA) election is scheduled for Saturday, an urgent application at the Johannesburg High Court to stop the elections has been filed.
The application was filed by by three Local Football Associations (LFAs)‚ Matsatsantsa Football Club and their owner‚ Sello Nkwana, it was based on agreements that were reached out of court between the LFAs‚ Safa Waterberg Region and Safa‚ on March 6 when an initial March 24 elective congress was put off.
According to Safa’s legal officer Tebogo Motlanthe: “The matter was struck off the roll because‚ firstly‚ it lacked urgency‚ and secondly‚ they did not follow the court manual lodging their papers.
He further added,“The judge just said he was not happy with the way they lodged their papers‚ not following the court manual.”
Safa’s legal team claimed that the urgent application was unnecessary as the applicants had time since April 28 when the date was set for elections.
According to James Morero the applicants lawyer‚ “The urgency matter was the problem‚” Morero said. “We filed papers yesterday for today.
He further added,“In any case we foresaw that we may have a problem with that,the client is saying that – because the matter was not dismissed‚ but was struck off the roll‚ which means you can still bring it within the normal roll – that if they proceed with the congress on Saturday he is willing to come back and apply to nullify the congress.”