The South African Football Association (Safa) have appointed Tebogo Motlanthe as acting chief executive officer replacing the outgoing Gay Mokoena.

Motlanthe takes up the position with immediate effect following the resignation of Mokoena in April.

An advocate by trade the 39-year-old Motlanthe has represented Safa in court before having been the legal officer of the football oversight body. He resigned that post in controversial circumstances in 2019, but returned to the position soon after.

“The South African Football Association (SAFA) NEC has unanimously endorsed the appointment of Advocate Tebogo Motlanthe as the new Acting CEO of the organisation.

“The appointment of Advocate Motlanthe (39) is with immediate effect.

“Advocate Motlanthe formed part of the SAFA legal team that successfully defended the Association against the Fli-Afrika complaint in which the travel agency was claiming millions of Rand from the FA. The lawsuit was dismissed by both the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court with costs.”

Motlanthe was held by police for two days in 2019, after an overseas trip triggered an interpol notice for his arrest on fraud charges.

At the time Motlanthe said: “I was confronted by the police at the airport and arrested. I was in the company of [Safa executive member] Poobie Govindasamy, [former Safa boss] Molefi Oliphant and Phindile Dlamini from the PSL.

“I spent two nights at the Brixton Police Station cells and was released on Monday. The case was dropped because there was no case to answer. I didn’t appear in court, but I was represented by my lawyer.

“Surprisingly, the case was opened at Langlaagte Police Station sometime last year, but an Interpol notice was issued on Friday – after I had left the country on Thursday on football duty.”

Mokoena stepped down having been suspended from his post by Safa’s executive. He has delivered a scathing criticism of the footballing authority, accusing president Danny Jordaan of abuses of power.

Despite his resignation as CEO, Mokoena remains a member of the executive and has challenged his suspension from the position of vice-president of Safa.

City Press have reported that Mokoena decided to tender his resignation after disagreeing with the approach by his colleagues at Safa as they chose to retrench staff members during the national lockdown. 

The CEO position has become something of a poisoned chalice with a succession of men asked to do the job in the last few years including, Mokoena, Russel Paul and Dennis Mumble.