COMMENT
I remember back in 1996, at 11-years old, when Mark Williams scored two goals against Tunisia in the Africa Cup of Nations final. I remember the TV, the crowd, our family, the whole neighbourhood, and the community roaring and screaming in elation at the fact that we were AFCON 1996 champions.
Just the previous year, the country had won the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
No one will ever forget Bafana captain Neil Tovey lifting the AFCON trophy, with the Tunisia jersey and former president Nelson Mandela beside him. That was our defining moment. That was reconciliation at play, the new South Africa laid bare for the whole world to see and share in our glory.
Right after that final, South African football spent time in the Top 20 of the Fifa rankings, right up to the moment when former Bafana striker Phil Masinga scored that cracker of a goal that sent us flying into France 1998.
Who could forget Clive Barker's celebration, posing as an aeroplane and flying around the touchline?
South Africa had a great team, with the likes of Eric Tinkler, Andre Arendse, Mark Fish, Sean Bartlett, Benni McCarthy, Lucas Radebe, Doctor Khumalo, and Linda Buthelezi. To this day, these guys are heroes. They put South African football on the map. Rhoo still has cult status at Leeds United to this day.
Even back then, the music touched your soul. Remember the song by Princess M and Mava Lee when they were singing: Bafana Bafana siyavena... South Africa siyavena? Who could forget when the legendary Bob Mabena and Doctor Khumalo did a song together called Get Funky, or when TKZee dropped Shibobo with Benni McCarthy back in 1998? The positive vibe and energy around that time were unmatched. We were winning things! We were going places! We were going to France!
So where did it all go wrong?
It all went wrong when Clive Barker quit under enormous pressure from Safa back in 1997, around the same time Danny Jordaan was appointed chief executive of the organisation. To this day, many feel Barker should have been allowed to finish his legacy as Bafana coach and see through the Fifa World Cup 1998. It would have been the right thing to do, because the decisions that were made cost South Africa dearly.
The appointment of Philippe Troussier to lead the charge at that World Cup is a case in point. At the end of the day, everything capitulated because of power, money, and personal ambition. Everyone wanted to be in charge, and everyone wanted control of the money that comes with football. Since then, South African football has never fully recovered, and some are arguing that it is time for new blood.
Fast-forward to 2026: South African football is about to make a choice that will define the next decade. On Saturday, the Safa will hold its elective congress in Gauteng. We now know it is officially a two-horse race between incumbent Danny Jordaan and AmaZulu owner Sandile Zungu.
This is definitely a new era, and it is more than a presidential vote. My view is that it is a referendum on what Safa and the rest of the football community stand for.
The Jordaan-era was characterised by power and an iron grip. He built Safa into what it is today. He was an instrumental figure in bringing the World Cup 2010 to the country, and the continent, for the first time. His contribution spans the unification of South African football after apartheid, the successful delivery of the World Cup, and leadership of Safa as president for three terms. That is a monumental, historic achievement that can and must never be taken away from him.
He has held the position for 13 years, having first been elected in 2013 and winning again in 2022. That longevity, however, is also the problem. There is a saying that goes: a good dancer knows when to leave the stage. At 75-years of age, he has had his dancing shoes on too long. He will forever be honoured as a pioneer of South African football.
But there is also a dangerous path he should be wary of. There is a difference between leaving a legacy and falling into the trap of holding on long after your time has come. The question then remains: Do you want to die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain?
In the context of Safa, the answer is a daunting one.
Jordaan's track record in football administration is now described as a highly polarised legacy, defined, on one hand, by monumental achievements on the global stage, and on the other, by recent governance crises, financial distress, and criminal charges.
South African football does not lack talent; what it lacks is a functional federation that takes accountability. Everyone knows Safa has become a cash-strapped organisation that needs bailouts to cover players' salaries.
There is a litany of high-profile administrative and financial irregularities, from failing to secure a training base to the latest visa bungles, which embarrassed the nation.
Then came the yellow-card debacle: Bafana fielded Teboho Mokoena in a 2026 World Cup qualifier against Lesotho when he was ineligible. The outcome was disastrous; South Africa lost three points, Safa was fined R215 000, and the match was awarded to Lesotho, 3–0.
Add to that the delay in appointing the next Bafana coach, and the non-implementation of VAR despite R20 million set aside by Treasury — the latest chapters in a long list of reasons why the association needs an administrative overhaul.
And hovering over all of it are the governance issues. Jordaan was arrested over allegations that he used about R1.3 million of Safa funds to hire a PR firm and a private security company for his personal benefit. He denies wrongdoing, and the case is before the court, but the story of Safa House being raided by the Hawks back in 2024 has done untold damage to sponsor confidence.
This is why there is a call for new blood. It isn't personal; it's structural. Football needs a federation that can pay players on time, file visas correctly, count yellow cards, and roll out VAR. It needs a modern, professionally run business, not a fiefdom.
I am by no means praising Zungu or saying he is the perfect candidate. No one on this earth is perfect, and no candidate in Safa politics is either, but at least he is bringing something different to the table. He is bringing fresh air and fresh ideas.
Zungu is a very successful businessman who is not afraid to take risks, and like Patrice Motsepe, he also owns a football club, AmaZulu. He is the founder and executive chairman of Zungu Investments Company (ZICO), which has business interests across a wide range of sectors.
What matters is what he did with that club. Within just one season of injecting corporate professionalism, modernising scouting, and restructuring administration, AmaZulu rocketed to a historic second-place finish in then DStv Premiership in 2020/21 and qualified for the CAF Champions League.
His pitch for Safa is built on what many inside the game have been begging for: a vision focused on financial transparency and structural reform. That means audited accounts that sponsors can trust, a constitution that isn't used as a tool to suspend dissenting regions, proper investment in grassroots development and coaching education, and a clear separation between the president's office and the administration.
It also means understanding both sides of the modern game. Zungu will face the incumbent in a race where his camp says they are aware of what he called "dirty tricks" being used by the faction backing Jordaan. But he will go into Saturday seeking to end Jordaan's 13-year reign on a message of business discipline.
However, I'd like to wrap up by saying that South African football owes Danny Jordaan a dignified exit, not a humiliating one. He has done more for South African football than anyone could have imagined when he first took office in 1997.
Jordaan delivered the biggest sporting event this continent has ever seen. That legacy deserves to be protected in the history books, not eroded by a fourth-term fight that leaves the federation more divided and more broke.
A statesmanlike handover would allow him to take his rightful place as an elder statesman of African football, on Fifa committees, on legacy projects, as an ambassador for the 2010 generation, rather than being dragged through the indignity of financial-crisis meetings and unpaid-bonus sagas.
Giving him that exit is not weakness. It is strategy. It lets Safa turn the page without turning its past into an enemy.
This election is ultimately about what kind of federation the country wants. On one hand, many of us see Safa as a political structure where 52 regions are managed, patronage is currency, and survival is the goal. The other view sees Safa as a service organisation for football — to clubs, to players, to coaches, to Bafana and Banyana, and to the kid in Inanda, KwaMashu, or Umlazi who just needs a decent pitch, a qualified coach, and an opportunity.
South Africa is a young democracy that should not be afraid to call for new, younger blood, especially when it comes to voting. There can be only one winner in this Safa election, but we do not need to see two losers.
In the end, the interests of South African football must be the ultimate victor.
Ayanda Mdluli is the Editor: Thought and Opinion at IOL
The views expressed do not necessarily represent those of IOL