Why SAFA Cannot Elect Its Way Out of a Governance Crisis

2026-02-03 – The South African Football Association (SAFA) cannot have a credible election before undertaking substantive constitutional reform. It would therefore be premature to propose any candidate to replace the current SAFA President. The constitutional amendments adopted in 2022 systematically dismantled democratic safeguards that had previously allowed the association to function, albeit imperfectly, as a nominally democratic sporting body. Hannah Arendt and Max Weber cautioned against the manipulation of legality to clothe domination in the appearance of legitimacy. It is precisely this danger that confronts South African football today. 

A constitution without a moral and ethical foundation is the antithesis of good governance.