‘He only understands business’: SAFA NEC member Tankiso Modipa explains Zungu’s election defeat

He believes knowledge of SAFA cannot be limited to its national structures, arguing that an understanding of the organisation’s grassroots operations is essential for anyone seeking to become president.

“When you deal with issues of SAFA, it’s not just the higher structures, there’s lower structures as well. You need to understand from the lowest to the highest structures, which is the national side,” he said.

Modipa also stressed the importance of having someone who understands the South African football landscape before representing the country at continental bodies such as COSAFA and CAF.

“It cannot be correct that we get someone from outside SAFA to lead SAFA. We have our own integrity as SAFA to protect because we are competing with other countries in Africa, so we need someone who understands the dynamics of our country before we send them to COSAFA or CAF,” he said.

However, Modipa suggested that Zungu could still become involved in SAFA and build the experience needed to mount another challenge in future.

“If the opposition (Zungu) wants to integrate with SAFA, he must integrate at a local level and he must start from there and it will take him some time to understand the structure because he only understands business,” Modipa said.