Safa Cape Town’s General Secretary Reyaad Joseph said he cannot confirm if his office has received any correspondence from the law firm Bawa Abrahams and Associates.
“No comment,” Joseph stated to No Bones with Jones.
Our website also reached to the region’s president, Bennett Bailey (pictured right) who in turn replied: “He (Joseph) is right.”
However, No Bones with Jones is in possession of a copy which indicates that Bawa Abrahams and Associates, who is acting on behalf of its client, The Sport Stepping Stones (SSS) Foundation, sent a letter dated 13 February to the office of Safa Cape Town and its president Bennett Bailey whereby they inquired about the proceeds of the Palestinian Football Festival.
The SSS Foundation, in conjunction with the Safa CT, arranged the football festival, dubbed ‘Football for Humanity’ in February 2024 to show their solidarity and support for the on-going Palestinian struggle.
The SSS Foundation consulted Safa CT – as any football related matters must be cleared by the region – who in turn sanctioned the ‘Football For Humanity’ initiative and the latter has also been supported by Safa National as well as the national government given the historic and auspicious occasion.
Needless to say, the event was a huge success and following the Palestine national team’s two matches, one on 11 February 2024 against a Cape Town Invitational X1 followed by a South African Invitation side a week later on 18 February – even the country’s president Cyril Ramaphosa attended the event.
But prior to that, it was mutually agreed between SSS and Safa CT that the proceeds of this event must go to the people of Palestine.
Fast forward a year and SSS is now seeking answers as to what happened to the proceeds – especially after Safa CT reported a clean financial report at the recent AGM in Rylands.
According to the SSS Foundation they presented the initiative to Safa CT at the Rondebosch Golf Club on 30 November, where it was agreed that all the funds would be deposited into a new holding account with the region’s president, Bennett Bailey, along with SSS’s duo Boebie Cassiem (pictured left) and Noore Naceroedien noted as the signatories. The account was opened under the registration ”Sport for Humanity’.’
Despite the event being highly successful the SSS Foundation feels aggrieved that the Mother body had breached the agreement as the funds were not deposited in the account as initially agreed.
The concerns of the SSS Foundation pertained to the region’s financial report which was made available for review on 31 October 2024, and its unanimous acceptance by Congress at their annual AGM on 16 February 2025 – three days after Bawa Abrahams and Associates sent the correspondence to the region.
The Press release stated the primary topic discussed was that of its Annual Audited Financial report for 2023/’24, and it was unanimously accepted by Congress.
However, SSS have raised its concerns via its attorneys Bawa Abrahams and Associates, and are seeking a more detailed and comprehensive clarification from Safa CT.
PHOTO SUPPLIED BY FRIKKIE SWANEPOEL
