02/12/2006 18:43 - (SA)
Danny, Khoza in 2010 brawl
S’BUSISO MSELEKU
2010 WORLD CUP Local Organising Committee (LOC) chairperson Irvin Khoza and chief executive Danny Jordaan nearly came to blows a fortnight ago over a R100 million travel tender.
The incident, which both men denied to City Press yesterday, occurred at a meeting attended by Jordaan, Khoza and South African Football Association (Safa) president Molefi Oliphant.
The confrontation was precipitated when a travel tender to handle all LOC-related travel and accommodation, estimated at more than R100 million, was not awarded to a company owned by a friend of Khoza’s. It was awarded to Connex Travel.
There was some finger-wagging and Oliphant, who supported Khoza, told Jordaan that he would not get his support again.
A highly placed source told City Press that Khoza was not happy with the outcome but did not say anything at the meeting, which he had chaired, and where the decision was taken.
He and Oliphant then confronted Jordaan, accusing him of not protecting the interests of companies associated with football.
Both men were miffed that Fli-Afrika had not been given the lucrative contract.
“Ugly words were exchanged with fingers being poked at each other in this meeting,” the source said.
The issue was first raised by Oliphant at the last LOC board meeting. This was the meeting two weeks ago where the media staged a walkout after Khoza, Jordaan and Fifa secretary-general Dr Urs Linsi failed to appear and address them an hour after the scheduled time.
City Press understands this was the issue that held up the meeting, because Oliphant, who is a member of the LOC finance and procurement sub-committee, questioned why Fli-Afrika had not been awarded the tender.
The finance and procurement committee is chaired by Deputy Minister of Finance Jabu Moleketi and includes Transport Minister Jeff Radebe, Safa vice-president Mahomed Mubarak and Jordaan.
Oliphant was not in the country when the tender went through the committee. He is said to have registered his concern the decision was made in his absence.
He argued that smaller companies were going to miss out on opportunities due to the LOC’s stringent tender processes.
He argued that Fli-Afrika, which he said had been very helpful to football when Safa was in dire financial straits, should have won.
It was after this meeting that he and Khoza accosted Jordaan. Khoza and Jordaan yesterday denied there was a fallout.
Khoza said: “I don’t have any concerns and I was not involved in the process. All I did was chair the meeting where the presentation was made and endorsed by the entire board.”
Jordaan said: “There was no confrontation between the chairman and myself. We are working close together to ensure the success of the World Cup in 2010.”
Oliphant said he could not discuss issues handled by the board or that happened outside meetings.
“Our policy is that the chairman and the CEO are the official spokespeople and I will be going against that policy if I say anything.”
Moleketi said the process to select Connex Travel had been open and fair.
“All the tender processes were followed. We made our presentation to the board, who endorsed the decision.”
Connex Travel, a former Transnet subsidiary that was bought by a BEE company in 1988, beat 13 other bidders that were vying for the lucrative contract.
Connex Travel scored 83.6 points out of 100 followed by Harvey World Travel scoring 76.4, Fli-Afrika got 66.1 and Seekers Travel, which also handles the Premier Soccer League account, came fourth with 60.2 points.
Fli-Afrika director Nazeer Camaroodeen is a close associate of Khoza and Oliphant.
But former PSL chief executive Joe Ndlela terminated their contract because, in his own words, they were “too expensive”.
Fli-Afrika were shrouded in controversy in 1994 when a group of South Africans, including former Manchester United goalkeeper Gary Bailey, watched the FA Cup final on TV in a London hotel after their tickets were “stolen” from Camaroodeen’s car boot.
Jordaan was speedily moved from being Safa CEO to his current position soon after terminating the company’s contract.
When he moved to the LOC, Fli-Afrika’s contract was reinstated.
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