Latest news with #Sascoc
TimesLIVE
a day ago
- Business
- TimesLIVE
In the money
The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) held a media day this week, informing journalists of their plans for Los Angeles 2028. Athletes have been getting antsy about not receiving financial support from Sascoc's Operation Excellence programme, but Oddballs was pleased to hear the funding scheme for medal hopefuls was due to kick in from today. Apparently budgets needed to be finalised and approved. ..
The Herald
3 days ago
- General
- The Herald
World Netball says suspended Molokwane ‘has case to answer': Sascoc boss
World Netball has found suspended Netball South Africa (NSA) president Cecilia Molokwane has a case to answer and will face a disciplinary hearing in the coming weeks, SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) president Barry Hendricks said on Thursday. But he added he did not know the charges against the controversial sports boss. 'World Netball came back to us recently to say that there was a case to answer and they're now busy with the disciplinary hearing,' Hendricks told journalists in Johannesburg. The world governing body had indicated to him that the process should be completed around mid-July. Asked if he knew the charges against Molokwane, he replied: 'No, they've kept that between themselves and Ms Molokwane.' Molokwane, who was suspended last month after allegedly refusing to step down provisionally while facing investigation, has maintained her innocence, alleging claims had been made by 'anonymous individuals' wanting to ruin her reputation.
Daily Maverick
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
The maladministration games — South Africa's sports leadership just keeps dropping the ball
'It happens every week. Something is going on that's negative in sports. It does get depressing … It becomes really embarrassing and confusing when your major sports find themselves in positions like this. It's mainly about bad leadership and bad governance.' These were the lamentations of South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) president Barry Hendricks when he appeared in Parliament alongside Netball South Africa (NSA) for a routine oversight engagement by the parliamentarians in April. The twist to the customary visit by NSA came when the federation's president, Cecilia Molokwane, was suspended by World Netball. This was just a few days before NSA was set to appear before the Sport, Arts and Culture portfolio committee in Parliament. Molokwane's absence resulted in the committee members turning up the heat on the NSA members who were present, including vice-president Mami Diale and chief executive Modiegi Komane. Hendricks was caught in the crossfire, with the parliamentarians questioning the role of Sascoc with regard to the administrative issues that plague South African sports. They said Sascoc is sleeping on the job. The jabs thrown at Hendricks resulted in him responding with the aforementioned words as he defended how the umbrella body carries out its business. He went on to emphasise that Sascoc tries not to interfere with the internal affairs of the organisations under its wing, trusting that their dispute resolution processes will function as designed. Boardroom bullies? Before her suspension, Molokwane was accused of a number of administrative misdemeanours, including allegations that she is manipulating internal processes to her own benefit ahead of this year's NSA elections. Molokwane has regularly rubbished all the accusations that have followed her over the past few years, saying nameless and faceless accusations are baseless. She continues to sing from the same hymn book amid her suspension as World Netball investigates her. 'I vehemently deny having conducted myself in contravention of World Netball's disciplinary code and will vigorously defend any allegations which may subsequently be levelled against me,' Molokwane said. Alarmingly, Molokwane is not the only federation president to be accused of frustrating internal processes and scything those who oppose her. Daily Maverick has reported extensively on the alleged transgressions of South African Football Association (Safa) president Danny Jordaan over the past few years. For some of them, such as allegedly illegally misusing Safa funds for his own benefit, Jordaan is facing charges of fraud. The Safa president, now in his third term, was arrested in November 2024 alongside Safa's chief financial officer, Gronie Hluyo. In spite of some calls for Jordaan and Hluyo to step aside pending the finalisation of their court case, which seems set to drag on for some time still, the two Safa chiefs continue to hold on to their positions. This is because Jordaan allegedly heads a cabal in the Safa national executive that is said to function on a 'you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' basis. Just recently, Sunday World reported that Jordaan and Safa chief executive Lydia Monyepao are running the organisation like a fiefdom, in spite of the legal issues plaguing the president. The publication also said calls for Jordaan to step aside are growing louder. But Safa dismissed the report as misinformation. 'These individuals have targeted the president and CEO with attacks that have been launched through certain media outlets and social media, in an attempt to change the regime at Safa. At the heart of the campaign is a misinformation operation that is intended to create the impression that there is chaos and destruction at Safa,' it said. 'The campaign has escalated in recent weeks, with some even going as far as posting a series of untruths on their own personal social media accounts, attempting to create the impression that the president and the CEO do not consult when making decisions. 'Nothing could be further from the truth.' Lack of leaders Coincidentally, former internationally acclaimed soccer referee Andile 'Ace' Ncobo was recently arrested alongside his wife, Salome Ncobo, on charges of fraud and money laundering. Ahead of the 2018 Safa elections, many viewed Ncobo as someone who would be a perfect upstanding candidate to overthrow Jordaan. However, Ncobo pulled the plug on his election bid just a couple of months before the elections. Now he finds himself in a similar position to Jordaan, facing charges of fraud. This is in connection with a R15-million donation for school construction projects in the Eastern Cape. If someone like Ncobo, who was so respected before these allegations arose and charges were brought, can find himself in such a precarious position, it raises questions about the general quality of the available leaders in South African sport. Widespread issue Swimming South Africa, Athletics South Africa, Basketball South Africa, Boxing South Africa (before the instalment of its latest regime) and even historic sports events such as the Comrades Marathon and the Two Oceans Marathon have not been spared from negative publicity as a result of allegations of maladministration. In 2020, Thabang Moroe, who was the chief executive of Cricket South Africa at the time, was sacked by the organisation after a forensic report detailed allegations of corruption against him. Moroe subsequently denied these allegations, saying he was being targeted by the media because of his race. Cricket in South Africa continues to steadily recover from the carnage of this era, which also saw then president Chris Nenzani resign amid mounting public scrutiny. As a result of the negative publicity at the time, the cricket federation lost a number of sponsors and crucial revenue for its operations. That is the true cost of maladministration. No private entity wishes to be associated with organisations that constantly make headlines for all the wrong reasons, overshadowing the South African athletes who fly the country's flag high despite administrative ineptitude. Of course, the poor leadership that Sascoc's Hendricks speaks of transcends sport. In South Africa, it seems that even if people take up positions with the purest intentions, they transform into rogues as soon as they have power. If this were not the case too in politics, South Africa would be much further than it is currently – especially after the abolishment of apartheid. But because power corrupts, South Africa has grown at the pace of a tortoise, when it had the potential to sprint like a hare. DM This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.
Daily Maverick
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Parliament roasts Sascoc as administrative issues plague SA sport
The parliamentary sport committee believes that the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee needs to be more proactive amid persistent administrative issues within federations. The parliamentary committee on sport, arts and culture has called on the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) to improve how it manages the federations under its jurisdiction. The committee was highly critical of the umbrella body of South African sport. From the beleaguered Swimming South Africa to the South African Football Association (whose president stands charged with using the federation's funds for his own benefit), the country's sporting bodies regularly overshadow the achievements of athletes on the field through boardroom politics and maladministration. Netball South Africa (NSA) is the latest organisation to take the floor for a dance of shame after the organisation's president Cecilia Molokwane was suspended by World Netball last week. Sascoc president Barry Hendricks made an appearance in Parliament on Tuesday, 22 April. He appeared alongside the NSA's hierarchy, minus Molokwane. The NSA president is barred from participating in any netball duties until World Netball has concluded an investigation into her. Sleeping on the job Sport committee members admonished Hendricks for the constant spotlight on South African sports entities for negative reasons. As the NSA staff was put into a pressure-cooker and struggled to answer questions, heads turned to Hendricks in disappointment. 'Sascoc is sleeping on the job. Because you can hear even from the responses of the Sascoc president. He doesn't know. He's not ashamed to say he doesn't know. Yet [Sascoc] is the governing body that looks after these federations,' said committee member Eugene Mthethwa. Mthethwa's assertions were echoed by fellow committee member Matsholo Mmolotsane. 'All our sports entities are dying under Sascoc. The president cannot come here and boast about Sascoc having 85 federations. How many of those federations are well-oiled machines? It's not even 50%. You might find that it's only 5%,' Mmolotsane said. 'Why do we have Sascoc? If the head is not functioning well, the body will collapse,' she said. 'It can't be right. It's so disappointing that every time these entities come here, they have problems. And we keep on pumping money to those entities.' Sascoc says… Hendricks, though, said the criticism of Sascoc was unfair. It could not interfere in the daily operations of federations, which had their own constitutions and internal processes. He rightfully pointed out that since his election in 2020 (and re-election last year), Sascoc had navigated itself out of financially stormy waters. This was a shrewd diversion from answering the question on Sascoc's role in South African sport. 'It happens every week. Something is going on that's negative in sports. It does get depressing, especially because you've just turned your organisation around and your organisation is not really at fault, in terms of its operations,' Hendricks said. 'It becomes really embarrassing and confusing when your major sports find themselves in positions like this. It's mainly about bad leadership and bad governance,' the Sascoc president said. When he was asked why it took World Netball to act on the allegations against Molokwane, when she has regularly been accused of maladministration in recent years, Hendricks said: 'The reason is no one sent us anything. There were no whistle-blower requests to Sascoc to take any action. It's very difficult for an organisation to get involved without any firm evidence. Obviously, somebody has sent information to World Netball.' NSA's Molokwane speaks Molokwane, meanwhile, has vowed to clear her name. In an email read to Parliament to explain her absence, Molokwane said she believed she had no case to answer to. 'World Netball has yet to determine whether I have a case to answer, nor have I been formally charged with any misconduct,' Molokwane said. 'I vehemently deny having conducted myself in contravention of World Netball's disciplinary code and will vigorously defend any allegations which may subsequently be levelled against me,' the suspended NSA president said. 'I firmly believe in the importance of due process and the right to a fair hearing. All I ask is for the opportunity to present my side of the story and to defend myself against allegations that have been made by anonymous individuals,' said Molokwane. 'Whistle-blowing should serve the purpose of accountability and transparency, not to be a tool for faceless accusations that risk damaging reputations without proper scrutiny,' she said. Molokwane is bidding for a third term as NSA president after first being elected in 2017. Her suspension has slowed the momentum of this ambition, while the floundering display of the rest of the NSA hierarchy in Parliament paints a grim picture, from a leadership perspective. 'I hope when the term of this leadership ends, we will find a new broom that will sweep cleaner. Because this one is tired,' Mmolotsane said of NSA's leaders. DM
