Safa Cape Town president Bennett Bailey (pictured) has balls of steel, and for that, one has to admire him.
This was shown when “The Buffalo” as Bailey refers to himself, announced he is set to challenge his mentor, former ally and friend, Danny Jordaan, for the presidency of the South African Football Association – with the elections scheduled for later in September this year.
Bailey, who writes under the pseudonym Jason Jenkins, poured his heart out on Facebook recently about how democracy is under attack under the watch of Jordaan’s leadership.
Now, without going into the (de)merits of Jordaan’s tenure, the irony here is that just recently, the courts had to intervene to basically force Bailey’s region to include Wanderers FC chairman, Eric Gum, on the ballot papers as the former tried every trick in the book to jeopardize the democratic processes and to prevent Gum from running against him.
Now, what is mind-boggling from Bailey’s revelations is that he accuses Jordaan of treating the “SAFA presidency as his own fiefdom” while he himself enforces the same modus operandi at the regional level. So, it’s very rich of Bailey to accuse Jordaan of dictatorship, isn’t it? So much for cowboys don’t cry!
Bailey further points out that his boss “reportedly did not even have the decency to inform Mr Bennett Bailey directly.” Yeah right! After the bomb Bailey dropped on Jordaan, he suddenly expects respect and courtesy from his superior – really?
Needless to say, the football public in the Metropole is by now fully aware what and who Bailey is all about except those who follow blindly for the sake of position and relevance.
That said, clubs are unfortunately left to deal with the fact that the beautiful game is not run by the clubs or constituents being the various LFA’s, but by one man and one man only… Bailey. I mean, what did we just witness during the run-in of the recent elections?
Even when Gum was allowed to contest in the elections, he lost by a landslide to Bailey, which just underlines how powerful Bailey is at the local level, hence, he has been re-elected for a third consecutive term as the boss of football in the Mother City.
Similarly for Bailey, so, too is Jordaan extremely influential and powerful but on a higher and national level – and there is nothing really the former can do but to accept, albeit how difficult to digest.
And for the record, and for what it’s worth, it was the dumbest move from Bailey to challenge Jordaan who is the one who elevated him to where he is today, whether at Caf or Fifa, and instead of being grateful and subservient, Bailey sought more!
How many rivals has Bailey not taken out in the amateur circles who challenged him? And it doesn’t matter who and what you are, if you stand in his way, be prepared to pay the consequences.
Just as his comrade, friend, confidant and former treasurer Wayne Weitz experienced a year or so ago when Bailey had Weitz removed from his post, only for the Mother body’s very own DC committee to overturn Weitz’s suspension as it was unfair and unconstitutional.
Furthermore, Bailey talks about “Jordaan reportedly did not even have the decency to inform Mr Bennett Bailey directly.” Really? Was Weitz given any opportunity or platform to please explain his side of the story when Bailey humiliated him and took him to the cleaners?
So, to now cry foul and to remind us of quotes by late president Nelson Mandela, such as “Democracy is based on the will of the people, expressed freely through fair procedures,” is rather ironic and pathetic. It now appears that Bailey, who is used to getting his way, has met his match in Jordaan.
Speaking about quotes and references, there’s a quote by the late activist and freedom fighter Anton Fransch – who Bailey was very familiar with as they both fought the fight for justice against the apartheid government – which refers to the “mockery of democracy” and that sadly seems to resonate with the actions of Bailey as it is clearly visible in the amateur football landscape – the hypocrisy of democracy!
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