A legal showdown has broken out between Marumo Gallants and the National Soccer League (NSL) over the football body’s decision to dock Bahlabane Ba Ntoa’s monthly grant to the tune of R6.2 million to pay outstanding amounts owed to Andile Jali and Musa Nyatama.
Africa Daily can exclusively reveal that Gallants have applied for an urgent order in the Johannesburg High Court to interdict the NSL from deducting funds from their monthly grants.
In the application papers, which we have seen, Gallants said the NSL, popularly known as the Premier Soccer League (PSL), cited as the first respondent, should be barred from docking their grants to pay Jali and Nyatama, who are cited as the second and third respondents, respectively.
“Be pleased to take notice that application will be made on Tuesday, 7 July 2026, at 10:00 or so soon thereafter as counsel may be heard for an order in the following terms:
An order interdicting the first respondent, the National Soccer League, from deducting the applicant’s monthly grants and making payment to the second and third respondents, pending finalisation of the review application under case number 2026-085426 and all appeals at SAFA.
An order that any of the respondents that oppose this application pay the applicant’s costs,” read the papers.
In his affidavit, Gallants general manager Lucky Mokgotho said that on 27 June 2024, the NSL approved the sale and transfer of the premiership franchise of Moroka Swallows FC to Gallants.
He said Jali and Nyatama were previously employed by Moroka Swallows FC in their capacities as a football player and coach, respectively. He said Jali’s contract was terminated after he was found guilty of gross misconduct by an independent disciplinary committee in January 2024, just months before Moroka Swallows FC’s franchise was sold to Gallants in June 2024.
Mokgotho said Jali referred an unfair dismissal dispute to the NSL Dispute Resolution Chamber (NSL DRC), claiming damages for the remainder of the term of his employment contract and payment of so-called image rights.
“The image rights did not belong to the second respondent but to his agency, and therefore he was not entitled to payment. The referral to the NSL DRC was opposed by the applicant. The NSL DRC dismissed the second respondent’s claim for damages for the remainder of the period of his employment contract but granted an award for payment of the image rights to which the applicant was not entitled,” read the papers.
Mokgotho said Gallants appealed the decision of the NSL DRC to SAFA. He said the appeal has been pending at SAFA since then.
He said that in February 2026, the SAFA chief executive officer purported to dismiss the appeal by issuing a letter without affording the applicant an opportunity to be heard. He said they appealed SAFA’s decision.
Mokgotho said Nyatama’s employment contract as a coach was transferred to Gallants upon the conclusion of the sale and transfer of Moroka Swallows FC to them.
However, he said a dispute ensued between Gallants and Nyatama, which culminated in the NSL DRC granting an award in his favour.
“The applicant took the NSL DRC award on appeal to SAFA arbitration. Similarly, after waiting for more than a year for the appeal to be heard, the SAFA CEO issued a letter in February 2026 dismissing the appeal without a hearing. This matter is also the subject of the review application pending in this court,” he said.
Mokgotho said that on 11 June 2026, the NSL issued a letter directing Gallants to make payment to Nyatama in compliance with an NSL DRC award which they have appealed against.
He said they were taken aback because, in terms of the NSL handbook, an appeal against an order of the NSL DRC suspends the operation of the award.
“The arbitration tribunal has not been established and therefore no arbitration award exists at this stage. The league is therefore not entitled to deduct the applicant’s monthly grant until an award is made. The letter to enforce the award by the first respondent is therefore premature,” read the papers.
Mokgotho said the NSL directed Gallants to pay Jali and Nyatama by 30 June 2026.
He said this was despite the fact that the application for review of the decision taken by SAFA would not have been finalised by the end of June 2026.
He said that if they failed to pay the amounts, the NSL indicated that it would thereafter deduct the amount stated in the awards from their monthly grant.
“The next round of grant payments will take place on 25 July 2026, and should this matter not be heard before 25 July 2026, and in the absence of an interdict, the first respondent will make deductions from the applicant’s grant for July 2026,” read the papers.
He said these amounts would cause irreparable damage to the club’s finances because they are substantial.
“This amount is substantial and is approximately R6,200,000 (six million two hundred thousand rand),” he said.
