The Polokwane High Court has suspended the court order to reinstate the executive committee of the South African Football Association (SAFA) Capricorn region led by Abel Rakoma.
The SAFA leadership and its regional body in Capricorn made an urgent application for the March 26th court judgment not to be enforced pending another case.
Judge Gerrit Muller has granted SAFA an application saying the order is suspended pending the initial matter to be heard in February next year.
The interim court order by Judge Muller prevents the executive committee led by Rakoma to take over the leadership of the SAFA Capricorn region.
The order allows the association’s regional leadership – which was elected in December last year – to continue with their work in the regional offices in Polokwane pending proper arguments in the case next year as the association will be challenging the judgment. Judge Muller has granted SAFA’s application.
“Case number 4246 of 2019 is stayed and or suspended. As far as the costs are of concerned, I’m of the view the costs of this interim application should be in costs in the recession application and I make such an order.”
SAFA’s lawyer, Phetogo Molati, says the association will now focus on the development of football.
“Our client now will concentrate more on the development of football and make sure that the development of football is not only in courts it is actually there where it supposed to be at the grassroots level where people are actually doing the actual work not litigating development of football in courts”.
SAFA is challenging the court judgment granted earlier this year to reinstate the executive committee led by Rakoma. The matter will be at the Polokwane High court on the 15th of February next year. The court case started in 2018 when SAFA removed the executive led by Abel Rakoma and held an election for new leadership. SAFA said that it removed the executive because it was dysfunctional.
