I wrote a letter to SAFA - Minister Zizi Kodwa

SAFA had written a letter to Ledwaba, declaring her a ‘persona non-grata’ and banned her from all football activities under the auspices of the organisation after she lost a court case in which she flagged irregularities in the association’s 2022 elections. 

READ: Ledwaba calls on FIFA to appoint normalisation committee to SAFA

The letter was later withdrawn and the ban revoked, but Kodwa, speaking on Radio 2000’s Sport On show with Thabiso Mosia, said he’s hoping to get to the bottom of this.

"I'm a bit concerned about the situation within SAFA – I did write a letter to the president a few days before their withdrawal to ask what is happening with their decision, and I had not received a response," said Kodwa.

"I hope that we'll be able to have that conversation [at another time], but I'm really concerned about the situation at SAFA."

Kodwa further likened the words 'Persona Non-Grata' to those used in Apartheid days, adding that they have no place in modern society as this also scares potential investors in the sport.

"It's not that I'm concerned about development issues. Let's avoid things that just may not be of interest to any investors or sponsors, who have the right to protect their brand," he added.

"They can't be associated with some of the issues that have happened, I mean the recent one [with Ria] – let alone the [Hawks] raid, which also concerned me a bit.

"But I was also concerned about the tone of the letter that was written to Mama Ria Ledwaba, I mean that tone – I'm not suggesting we must interfere with the running of the federation, but words like 'banned', 'persona non-grata'?

"I was saying in the 30 years of democracy, which federation or structure can still use that language? Some people were saying it is within the rules and so on, and that was before the withdrawal.

"I then wrote for the attention of the president [Danny Jordaan] because I got worried about that tone, in the 30 years of democracy."

READ: Ria Ledwaba demands public apology from SAFA