Four Comrades association board members, including chair, quit

The Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) has confirmed that four members of its board have resigned with immediate effect.

The members include CMA chair Mqondisi Ngcobo, vice-chair Leslie Burnard and board members Kerwin Basson and Pumlani Ntuli.

In a brief statement, Ngcobo said: “I am very grateful to the CMA board, staff, sponsors and volunteers who have supported the work of the association in what has been some stressful circumstances. The past few weeks have taken a toll on the members of the association, and I empathise with those who have been at the coalface dealing with these issues.

“The CMA and the race are in a very good space, and it is with this in mind that we will be stepping down from the CMA board to spend some much-needed down time to be with our families and to allow the association to evolve. We wish all stakeholders, members and, most importantly, the runners, everything of the best for the future.”

CMA said in a statement that its elders, Jeff Minnaar, Peter Proctor, and CMA member Busani Ndlovu had been appointed as appointee board members as per clause 21.4 of the CMA constitution.

Minnaar has been appointed as the interim chair, while Peter Proctor will serve as the interim vice-chair until the AGM is held in November.

The current CMA board will, therefore, be constituted as follows:

• Jeffery Minnaar (interim chair)
• Peter Proctor (interim vice-chair)
• Sweetname Nkabinde
• Patricia Freeman
• Celinkosi Makhoba
• Nontuthuko Mashimane
• Steve Mkasi (KZNA representative)
• Busani Ndlovu
• Isaac Ngwenya

The four resignations came after an explosive special general meeting at Carter High School in Pietermaritzburg last week when one board member, Zinhle Sokela, was banned for life and another, Isaac Ngwenya, escaped sanction.

The meeting to discuss the running of the association was called after allegations of racism and vote-rigging, which led to former Comrades winner and race director Ann Ashworth leaving the organisation.

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