Dr Danny Jordaan has been re-elected as president of the South African Football Association (SAFA), securing a decisive victory over challenger Sandile Zungu in an elective congress marked by controversy and high tension.
At the age of 75, Jordaan secured a fourth term and outdid his opponent, Sandile Zungu. Zungu, the AmaZulu chairperson, went toe-to-toe with Jordaan, wanting to unseat him after three terms at the helm of South African football.
Jordaan received 157 votes while Zungu received 82. The 41-member SAFA NEC that was elected yesterday included five women, an improvement from three in the previous SAFA leadership, but it is dominated by members from the Football Transformation (FTF) camp of Jordaan, with only four from the Save Our SAFA (SOS) group who were backing Zungu.
It’s also a mix of youth and experience, with the majority of the NEC members having served in leadership during Jordaan’s third term. Jordaan, who has been a SAFA president since 2013, when he took over from Kirsten Nematandandani, revealed in a press conference post the elective congress in Midrand that one of the first calls he got after his re-election yesterday was from Infantino and CAF President Patrice Motsepe.
With Bafana Bafana having just returned from the FIFA 2026 World Cup in Mexico and the USA, Jordaan says the notion that SAFA regional structures have not done anything at the developmental level is unfounded.
One of the dominant questions leading into these elections has been about Jordaan’s statement after his re-election in 2022, when he beat Ria Ledwaba and Solly Mohlabeng, that it would be his last term. When asked why he’s gone back on his word, Jordaan says the will of the SAFA regions needs to be respected…
