African press review 8 June 2015

South Africa's press on the melée of the FIFA graft quicksand as heads threaten to roll over millions of dollars of payments and kickbacks involving top government officials and SA 2010 World Cup mascot Zakumi.

The South African press releases new shocking details of the FIFA corruption scandal which forced FIFA chief Sepp Blatter to step down. The latest revelations are that South Africa’s World Cup boss Danny Jordaan and current African Union President Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, were implicated in secret dealings involving a10-million dollar payment now alleged to be a bribe.

It’s an avalanche of secrets, holds the Daily Dispatch.

The Financial Mail claims that officials from South Africa’s 2006 World Cup bid committee were in possession of signed affidavits confirming that three members of FIFA’s 24-man executive committee had been bribed to vote for Germany adding that President Nelson Mandela was furious when he learnt about the rigging after which Sepp Blatter then manoeuvred to award the 2010 games to the Rainbow nation to soothe South Africa.

Former SAFA boss Molefi Oliphant added a new twist to the scam over the weekend when he accused his successor Danny Jordaan of betraying him.

According to City Press, Oliphant claims that Jordaan had failed to disclose the existence of a 2007 letter he wrote to FIFA requesting that payments be made to the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF).

FIFA reportedly wrote back to South Africa’s Department of Foreign Affairs saying it had established a ‘Win in Africa with Africa’ programme, and that FIFA had allocated US$70 million for it. SAFA a said the money given to Caribbean football association Concacaf was part of a well-publicised African Diaspora programme that formed part of the government’s African Renaissance initiative – the brainchild of then president Thabo Mbeki.

Mail and Guardian wonders: What did President Thabo Mbeki and Sepp Blatter know about – and do to facilitate - the $10-million "bribe" allegedly to win the 2010 World Cup vote? “He he he he he, the joke is on us” giggles Mail and Guardian in today’s editorial. The coverage is spiced with a video showing "how Jacob Zuma and cronies add fuel to the fire and watch the country burn".

"Skeletons keep tumbling out of the closet, revealing what could be the most embarrassing corruption scandal in years", writes BusinessDay.

The Sowetan satirizes about the scam in a "cartoon from Yalo’s pen" of South Africa 2010’s sporty mascot Zakumi, cornered by FBI agents. The anthropomorphized green-haired leopard is no longer as cheerful as he was, during the hectic vuvuzela bonanza.

"I’m innocent," pleads a terrified-looking Zakumi as he was pushed to the wall and frisked. “That’s what they all say”, responded one of the bully-looking agents, as he stepped forward with his search of Zakumi’s body for incriminating evidence.