Tycoon Sandile Zungu gathers regional backing as SAFA nomination deadline nears

Sandile Zungu's bid to unseat Danny Jordaan as president of the South African Football Association has gained significant ground, with a rival candidate withdrawing in his favour and regional structures lining up behind him ahead of a nomination deadline this month.

The AmaZulu owner said support from SAFA's regions had exceeded his expectations. "The response has been phenomenal," Zungu told reporters at the Engen Knockout Challenge in Durban on Sunday. "I have been really encouraged by what they tell me, that I make a lot of sense. It is what they have been waiting for, and they have even used much more colourful and flattering language than that."

Nominations close on July 29, after which SAFA will run integrity and eligibility checks to finalise the candidate list. The election is scheduled for September 12.

The most consequential shift came from within the association's own leadership. Bennett Bailey, a SAFA vice-president who oversees Western Cape structures and was the first to declare against Jordaan, withdrew his candidacy and joined Zungu's campaign. "I firmly believe President Zungu represents the calibre of leadership that South African football requires at this critical moment," Bailey said in a statement issued through SAFA Cape Town. "He brings proven business acumen, strategic leadership, credibility, and fresh energy."

Bailey said the Western Cape would campaign for Zungu. Former presidential hopeful Ria Ledwaba has also been reported among his backers, and Zungu's camp has claimed interest from structures in the Northern Cape, North West and Mpumalanga.

Zungu has built his pitch around the economics of the sport rather than its results. He has argued that football is an industry that South African administrators have failed to treat as one, employing more than 100,000 people and contributing materially to gross domestic product. "Why do people not recognise that soccer is an industry?" he said in a radio interview. He has identified what he calls a trust deficit between the business community and SAFA as the central problem he would address.

His platform includes modernising facilities, rebuilding school and women's football, and creating clearer pathways for young players. He has said school-level football has all but disappeared, and has set a target of making South Africa the leading footballing nation on the continent.

Whether he can appear on the ballot remains unresolved. SAFA legal committee chairman Poobie Govindasamy said in May that Zungu would be ineligible while he retains his ties to AmaZulu, drawing a comparison with Patrice Motsepe, who relinquished ownership of Mamelodi Sundowns before becoming president of the Confederation of African Football. Bailey has argued the opposite, contending that Zungu qualifies because he sits on SAFA's remuneration committee. The question will be settled after nominations close.

Jordaan has led the association since 2013 and is understood to be seeking a fourth term, though he has not formally confirmed his candidacy. A grouping aligned to him, the Football Transformation Forum, has publicly backed his return. He heads into the vote under pressure, facing a court case over alleged financial maladministration at SAFA House, and in May four opponents were expelled from the SAFA executive after publicly questioning his leadership.

Zungu built his fortune through Zungu Investments Company, with interests spanning mining, energy, industrial services and property. He bought AmaZulu in 2020 and has invested heavily in the Durban club, and he has held prominent roles in South African business organisations, including the Black Business Council.

The contest is shaping into the most serious challenge Jordaan has faced in more than a decade. What Zungu must now convert is enthusiasm into nominations, and the deadline is eleven days away.