Sandile Zungu floated for South African Football Association top job

South African businessman Sandile Zungu, the owner of Premiership club AmaZulu, has emerged as a potential challenger to SAFA president Danny Jordaan, a development that would pull one of KwaZulu Natal’s best known dealmakers deeper into the country’s football politics.

Zungu has acknowledged he is aware his name has been put forward in SAFA circles, as speculation grows ahead of the federation’s next elective congress. The prospect adds a corporate heavyweight to a contest that has often been shaped by regional alliances and internal football structures more than boardroom reputations.

If Zungu does step forward, his candidacy would come with a backstory built outside sport. Now 59, Zungu trained as an engineer and began his career in industry before moving into finance and investment, a shift that laid the foundations for the diversified group he controls today.

His early years included engineering roles at major industrial operations, followed by a turn into banking and deal work in the mid 1990s. He later launched investment vehicles that expanded rapidly during the boom years of Black economic empowerment transactions. By the early 2000s, he had set up Zungu Investments Company, widely known as Zico, positioning it as an industrial holding and investment platform with interests that have ranged across education, manufacturing, property, resources, forensics, sport and gaming.

In football, Zungu became a national figure after acquiring AmaZulu in 2020, promising to professionalise the Durban club and push it back into contention. The team soon delivered its best modern league finish, securing a second place spot in the 2020 to 2021 season and a place in continental competition, a result that strengthened his image as an owner willing to spend, restructure and demand performance.

His profile has also expanded through high visibility gaming interests. Zungu has been linked to Sizekhaya Holdings, the consortium selected to take over operation of South Africa’s National Lottery and Sports Pools from June 2026, a contract that has drawn public attention because of its scale and the scrutiny that typically follows lottery money.

That mix of sport ownership, diversified investments and politically sensitive commercial terrain is likely to shape how delegates and sponsors view any Zungu bid. Supporters may see a figure who can attract partners, impose governance discipline and bring fundraising credibility at a time when SAFA has faced repeated criticism about administration. Skeptics may ask whether a business leader, however wealthy, can navigate a federation where power is often won in provincial meeting rooms long before ballots are cast.

Zungu has not publicly launched a campaign, and it remains unclear how formal the push is inside SAFA’s nomination structures.