EXCLUSIVE: "I believe Jennifer Ferguson" - another woman speaks out

Ferguson now says she wants Jordaan to apologise to her, to admit to what he has done, in a restorative justice process instead of pursuing the matter through the courts. 

The #MeToo campaign saw scores of women speaking out as Hollywood was rocked with several claims of women being sexually violated by movie giant Harvey Weinstein. It has now reached women worldwide who are taking to especially social media, to tell their stories. Ferguson made the decision to tell her story, as this campaign gained momentum.  

Danny Jordaan has been silent for the most part. At the one public event where he made an appearance last week, he flatly refused to entertain any questions from reporters on the matter. At the time he indicated that he would respond at a later stage. That stage hasn't come. His silence continues - as another woman has opened up about her experience. The woman has shared her story of how in 2004, she too found herself in a room with Jordaan, this time, his executive suite in a Sandton hotel in Johannesburg. She counts herself lucky that she got away from what she describes as a persistent Jordaan, who made his intentions for that late afternoon very clear. The woman has asked that her identity be withheld. 

Here is her story, more than ten years later, as told to me. 

It was our euphoric days. We were living our national dream. I was living mine too. Public Relations management was my thing. I was good at it and here I was, in the middle of one of the greatest events our country would host. We just clinched the hosting rights to the soccer World Cup in 2010 and we were hard at work ensuring that each and every foreigner coming to our shores was thoroughly impressed with what the rainbow nation had to offer. Behind the scenes soccer's main man, Danny Jordaan, was the key figure in making everything happen and ensuring that it runs smoothly. So many meetings were held. It was necessary. We had to plan. 

Our execution of this massive event had to be on point. No one should have anything to fault us on. The masses of people involved in every aspect of the planning process got up early in the mornings and stayed up until late at night. It had to be done. One particular day, in the middle of the week in July, we held another meeting but things were still to be tied up. Not everything was made crystal clear in these talks. Danny Jordaan and I agreed to meet in the hotel's bar area to go over a couple of key points. Our meeting was scheduled for 5pm. Five minutes before that I walked to the agreed upon meeting point. Danny called me from his cellphone, asking for the meeting to take place in his hotel room. 

He said he was on the verge of finishing off a conference call and it would just be easier for us to meet there. I agreed and made my way to his hotel room. I walked in and he was still on the phone. He ushered me in and I sat down on one of the chairs. I waited for him to finish his call, notepad in hand. He wrapped up his call, came over and started talking about the press conference held that day and spelled out what our further priorities should be.

 Our meeting was done and his conversation shifted to my general wellbeing, my family. I found it unsettling, I didn't want to talk about myself, this was business. Then, he moved closer. He placed his hand on my thigh, worked his way up and started rubbing. I knew I was in trouble. I didn't want this. This was not okay. I had to get away. I removed his hand and then he did something that is still the starkest memory of the entire ordeal. He started grinning. He told me that he was interested in something more than just a working relationship with me. I told him I felt uncomfortable. I told him that I thought his behaviour was inappropriate because this is not what I wanted. I was trying to talk myself out of the situation. I watched the door and in a moment of clarity I knew what I had to do - make a run for it. I jumped up and did just that. In a matter of seconds I ran down the corridor, into the lift, shaking like a leaf, no looking back. I ran to my car, locked the doors and sat there for an hour. Still shaking. I needed to calm down. I couldn't drive like this. I needed to breathe, not think. Just, calm down. Drive away. Drive home. I got away. I got out. I'm okay. 

 Only I wasn't because for the next 6 months we still had to work together. I spent it running away from him, looking for the exits to a room when he entered. It was the longest 6 months of my life. I convinced myself that it's nothing to talk about, that no one should know about it. Who would believe me anyways? 

Jennifer Ferguson's story gave me the strength to tell mine. I am sorry that you had to go through your ordeal. I got away. Just in time. You didn't. And I feel your pain. I believe you too. 

Several requests were made for Danny Jordaan to comment on these developments, without success.