There is no Boxing SA (BSA) board, and promoters are continuously applying for dates with the regulator for tournaments yet there is no sanctioning committee in place to look at the eligibility and fairness in the match-making for those tournaments to be given a go-ahead.
The three-year term of the previous board and that of the sanctioning committee expired on December 12.
Sports minister Zizi Kodwa appointed a new board on November 28. But that board got kicked out of the office even before it could settle down due to a “blunder” by Kodwa of appointing it without consulting with the National Professional Boxing Promoters Association (NPBPA).
Kodwa was expected to appoint an interim board to keep the fire burning administratively while waiting for his day in court. But that has not happened and there is a deafening silence from his part while the NPBPA is communicating with the fraternity.
Before being frozen out, board chairperson Sfiso Shongwe recalled COO Mandla Ntlanganiso who was suspended by the previous board, and appointed him as BSA’s acting CEO. Now that Shongwe’s board has been declared “unlawful”, his appointment is also null and void.
Ntlanganiso could only say: “I did not appoint myself.”
The NPBPA executive had a media briefing recently and chairperson Ayanda Matiti clarified some of the issues.
Matiti said they wrote to Kodwa prior to him appointing the board. “We wanted to take the minister in confidence in terms of our own experiences as promoters and share notes with the minister on issues and areas of immediate intervention,” he said.
“Issues that when he articulates policies he must reflect on as an intervention that must elevate the state of boxing in the country. We had a meeting scheduled by his office for November 28. On the 24th of November we received a media alert that the minister will announce the board on the 28th of November (the day of scheduled meeting).”
Asked if Kodwa was aware of the briefing by the NPBPA, Litha Mpondwana, who is media liaison officer in the office of Kodwa, said: “What we can emphasise is the minister’s commitment for the challenges facing Boxing SA to be addressed, and for South African boxing to be revived and return to great heights.”
Crisis is deepening in SA boxing
Without a sanctioning committee, tournaments cannot be held
Image: Supplied
There is no Boxing SA (BSA) board, and promoters are continuously applying for dates with the regulator for tournaments yet there is no sanctioning committee in place to look at the eligibility and fairness in the match-making for those tournaments to be given a go-ahead.
The three-year term of the previous board and that of the sanctioning committee expired on December 12.
Sports minister Zizi Kodwa appointed a new board on November 28. But that board got kicked out of the office even before it could settle down due to a “blunder” by Kodwa of appointing it without consulting with the National Professional Boxing Promoters Association (NPBPA).
Kodwa was expected to appoint an interim board to keep the fire burning administratively while waiting for his day in court. But that has not happened and there is a deafening silence from his part while the NPBPA is communicating with the fraternity.
Before being frozen out, board chairperson Sfiso Shongwe recalled COO Mandla Ntlanganiso who was suspended by the previous board, and appointed him as BSA’s acting CEO. Now that Shongwe’s board has been declared “unlawful”, his appointment is also null and void.
Ntlanganiso could only say: “I did not appoint myself.”
The NPBPA executive had a media briefing recently and chairperson Ayanda Matiti clarified some of the issues.
Matiti said they wrote to Kodwa prior to him appointing the board. “We wanted to take the minister in confidence in terms of our own experiences as promoters and share notes with the minister on issues and areas of immediate intervention,” he said.
“Issues that when he articulates policies he must reflect on as an intervention that must elevate the state of boxing in the country. We had a meeting scheduled by his office for November 28. On the 24th of November we received a media alert that the minister will announce the board on the 28th of November (the day of scheduled meeting).”
Asked if Kodwa was aware of the briefing by the NPBPA, Litha Mpondwana, who is media liaison officer in the office of Kodwa, said: “What we can emphasise is the minister’s commitment for the challenges facing Boxing SA to be addressed, and for South African boxing to be revived and return to great heights.”
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