Mokoena: I'm gay, so what

2004-11-07 08:35

Timothy Molobi

Johannesburg - Former SA Football Association (Safa) boss Albert Mokoena has come out with guns blazing following his fall from grace in the soccer world - as well as embarrassing reports regarding his sexual preferences.

"If I have a gay relationship it is nobody's business. So what?" he said this week.

In an exclusive interview with City Press about intrigue within Safa - and reports regarding his tangled relationships with his allegedly "gay lover", Herbert Rasekhula, and former secretary Faith Ramoupi, Mokoena said: "My private life is my business, it is not for public consumption."

After losing one of the most powerful jobs in local soccer administration, Mokoena revealed that he intends to take his former employer, Safa, to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration - for what he claims was "constructive and unfair dismissal".

Mokoena said contrary to widely-held perceptions that he voluntarily left Safa after mounting pressure from various quarters, he was forced out. "I didn't resign, I was pushed out," he charged this week.

Safa vice president Reuben Mahlalela, who announced the resignation of Mokoena a fortnight ago, said he was unaware that the matter had been referred to the CCMA, but said he was not surprised that Mokoena had decided to take the legal route.

Mahlalela said Safa president Molefi Oliphant had been fully briefed on the issue.

In a no-holds-barred interview at his upmarket southern Johannesburg home, Mokoena maintained that he was a scapegoat for various bungles by Safa's administration.

'Halted Safa's gravy train'

He said his "crime" was that he had halted Safa's gravy train and now had to bear the brunt of the backlash.

Mokoena also accused the media of insensitivity for publishing stories about his sexual life. He said the press went overboard on an issue that was a private matter.

At the time, Ramoupi laid a charge of intimidation against Mokoena.

This week Mokoena said "the incident" was used as an excuse for sensational reports, and the courts have since thrown out the case.

"This negative publicity was a well-orchestrated campaign to discredit me because I brought corporate governance and restored order to a chaotic administration.

"Some people were used to tarnish my name in public and I am disappointed that nobody bothered to protect me even though I was implementing executive decisions," he lamented, without disclosing names.

"I was surprised when some executive members went public to ridicule me. They say I was bringing the association into disrepute but I was protecting their image."

- City Press