BOXING SA (BSA) chief executive Moffat Qithi is to be suspended today, says Sport and Recreation Minister Fikile Mbalula.

"I have instructed the director-general [of sport] to meet with the BSA board so that they take action by suspending [Qithi] pending a hearing into his alleged misconduct," Mbalula told Sowetan yesterday.

Qithi admitted in the Johannesburg High Court on Wednesday that he failed to disclose his criminal record when he applied for the R1-million-a-year job in 2011.

In another explosive session in court yesterday, the focus shifted to BSA and how the regulator had:

lOvercharged development promoters to stage tournaments;

lDepleted the Benevolent Fund reserves meant for boxers in distress; and

lStolen broadcast fees from a promoter.

Laurance Hodes SC asked Qithi in cross-examination to explain why a promoter had paid a sanctioning fee to BSA of 20% - just more than R400000 - of his total income for a tournament in East London on June 28 when boxing regulations stipulated the sanctioning fee at 10% of TV revenue and 5% of other income, such as sponsorships and gate.

Qithi said the tournament was staged under the auspices of Professional Boxing League (PBL), with which BSA had agreed to peg the sanctioning fee at 20%.

All PBL shows are hosted by development promoters, he added.

Hodes quizzed Qithi about another tournament in East London last year when BSA had overtly taken the TV rights from the promoter, allegedly orchestrated by BSA's then chairman, Ngconde Balfour.

"BSA stole the broadcast fees and rights of the promoter," said Hodes, who got Qithi to agree that "the broadcasting fees belong to the promoter".

Balfour, who resigned as BSA chairman recently, had argued that the regulator owned TV rights.

On the Benevolent Fund, Qithi said the fund was still solvent. Hodes disputed this, saying that when boxer Jeffrey Mathebula asked for assistance after suffering a broken jaw in a fight, "he was told there was no money".

Promoter Branco Milenkovic is suing Qithi and BSA for R4-million for defamation after being blamed for Noni Tenge being stripped of her IBF welterweight title last July.

The case resumes on November 8.