By Odwa Mkentane
The South African Football Association (SAFA) is preparing to recover legal costs from former presidential challengers Ria Ledwaba and Solly Mohlabeng following a series of court battles over the association’s 2022 presidential election. The move follows the Constitutional Court’s dismissal of their application for leave to appeal, with costs awarded against them. SAFA says it will now take steps to recover the money spent defending the legal challenges.
Speaking to VOC, Lesedi Mphahlele, from Mphahlele & Motlathe Attorneys Inc. and a SAFA attorney, said Ria Ledwaba and Solly Mohlabeng challenged the 2022 SAFA elections, arguing that the elections and amendments to the SAFA Constitution were not properly conducted. SAFA opposed their applications, saying the constitutional changes had been approved by its highest decision-making body.
“The courts rejected their arguments. They lost the case before the 2022 elections, and the elections went ahead as planned, with Danny Jordaan being elected. They then appealed the decision and lost again, with costs awarded against them. They took the matter to the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein, where they also lost, again with costs. The matter was eventually taken to the Constitutional Court. On 7 September this year, the Constitutional Court issued an order dismissing their application, with costs. There are now costs from three different courts: the Pretoria High Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court,” said Mphahlele.
Mphahlele said the costs for the Pretoria High Court have already been taxed and were allowed at approximately R460,000. The costs for the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court still have to be taxed.
“If all three amounts are added together, the total could be around R2 million, but that is only an estimate at this stage. The process of taxing costs has nothing to do with SARS. When a court awards costs, the lawyers prepare a bill setting out the costs. This bill is sent to the party who has to pay. If the parties cannot agree on the amount, the bill is taken to a taxing master at the court.
“The taxing master’s job is to check whether the costs claimed are reasonable and in line with the court’s official tariffs. Even if SAFA has a separate fee agreement with its lawyers, the amount that can be recovered from the losing party is based on the court tariffs,” he said.
He further added that Ledwaba and Mohlabeng’s lawyers have not paid the legal costs despite being given a deadline.
“There is also no guarantee that all the money will be recovered. There is an old saying that there is no point suing someone who has nothing to pay. In this case, the lawyers have already written to Ria Ledwaba and Solly Mohlabeng’s attorneys and given them a deadline to pay the costs. That deadline has passed without payment.
“The next step is to apply for a warrant of execution. This would allow the sheriff to investigate and attach property belonging to the individuals to recover the money owed.
“The sheriff could attach movable or immovable property. If that is not enough to cover the debt, the next step could be to attach money in their bank accounts. The sheriff can instruct the relevant banks to freeze the accounts and recover available funds to pay the debt,” Mphahlele said.
Photo: SAFA/FB Page
