South Africa's sports leadership just keeps dropping the ball

The country's sports scene would be thriving if administrators weren't constantly defending themselves against maladministration claims. By Yanga Sibembe

- Yanga Sibembe

“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, instead 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.