Sports minister Zizi Kodwa has said something very profound – he does not want boxing licensees, boxers, and the sport to suffer because the board was interdicted.
Kodwa must now follow that up by appointing an interim board and forget about bringing an administrator as he indicated last week
Fikile Mbalula, then sport minister, went that route when he seconded Masilo Maake from the labour relations department at Sports and Recreation SA to Boxing SA after the suspension of acting CEO Loyiso Mtya in 2015.
Maake ended up doubling as the acting CEO. He also served as the CFO because the CFO Kgosimang Mosupa was dismissed by the board.
Maake, a lawyer by profession, is still with BSA. He was the legal advisor to acting CEO Nsikayezwe Sithole and they allegedly wasted about R2m with court cases the regulator lost.
There is no court of law that says boxing tournaments must not take place until the impasse between Kodwa and the National Professional Boxing Promoter Association (NPBPA) is resolved.
The sport and its practitioners, and most importantly promoters who put tournaments together, must not suffer due to a fight that is not theirs.
Kodwa must take into account that current BSA licences expire on March 13, meaning that by April 1, no one will hold a BSA licence. So, Kodwa must act now because licencing itself is a long process.
There are men and women of integrity who have served boxing as either members of BSA board or as CEOs. Kodwa must just reach out.
The interim structure that he must appoint must also be empowered to request members who served in both the sanctioning and ratings committees to continue giving service until Kodwa and the NPBPA resolve their issues.
Once the board Kodwa appointed in November resumes office, or whatever the outcome of the court case is, then the new board can appoint members of the two structures whose three-year terms will expire when theirs also comes to an end.
Fights must be sanctioned and that duty has nothing to do with either Kodwa ot the NPBPA. That is the duty of the sanctioning committee, which also issues clearance letters to fighters who intend to fight outside SA.
That committee works in tandem with the BSA medical committee whose chairman Dr Solly Selepe makes recommendations after conducting medical examinations of fighters.
When Kodwa appoints the interim structure, he will not be doing something that is unprecedented.
It happened before his time. Former sports minister Ngconde Balfour abolished the Boxing and Wrestling Control Act 39 of 1954 and did away with with provincial commissions and the head office of the South African National Boxing Control Commission in 1999.
Balfour, as sports minister, appointed an interim structure, while waiting for then president Thabo Mbeki to sign off the proposed new boxing act.
He the appointed the inaugural seven-member board. Boxing SA’s COO Mandla Ntlanganiso, who is the acting CEO, right or wrong, has issued clearance to Jackson Chauke who won the IBO flyweight in England.
Sivenathi Nontshinga is in Mexico for an IBF junior-flyweight world championship that will take place on Sunday – thanks to Ntlanganiso for that decision, it was in the best interest of fighters. Best wishes to Nontshinga and his team.
Steps Kodwa must take to win BSA board fight
Minister must take action before licences expire
Image: Ashley Vlotman
Sports minister Zizi Kodwa has said something very profound – he does not want boxing licensees, boxers, and the sport to suffer because the board was interdicted.
Kodwa must now follow that up by appointing an interim board and forget about bringing an administrator as he indicated last week
Fikile Mbalula, then sport minister, went that route when he seconded Masilo Maake from the labour relations department at Sports and Recreation SA to Boxing SA after the suspension of acting CEO Loyiso Mtya in 2015.
Maake ended up doubling as the acting CEO. He also served as the CFO because the CFO Kgosimang Mosupa was dismissed by the board.
Maake, a lawyer by profession, is still with BSA. He was the legal advisor to acting CEO Nsikayezwe Sithole and they allegedly wasted about R2m with court cases the regulator lost.
There is no court of law that says boxing tournaments must not take place until the impasse between Kodwa and the National Professional Boxing Promoter Association (NPBPA) is resolved.
The sport and its practitioners, and most importantly promoters who put tournaments together, must not suffer due to a fight that is not theirs.
Kodwa must take into account that current BSA licences expire on March 13, meaning that by April 1, no one will hold a BSA licence. So, Kodwa must act now because licencing itself is a long process.
There are men and women of integrity who have served boxing as either members of BSA board or as CEOs. Kodwa must just reach out.
The interim structure that he must appoint must also be empowered to request members who served in both the sanctioning and ratings committees to continue giving service until Kodwa and the NPBPA resolve their issues.
Once the board Kodwa appointed in November resumes office, or whatever the outcome of the court case is, then the new board can appoint members of the two structures whose three-year terms will expire when theirs also comes to an end.
Fights must be sanctioned and that duty has nothing to do with either Kodwa ot the NPBPA. That is the duty of the sanctioning committee, which also issues clearance letters to fighters who intend to fight outside SA.
That committee works in tandem with the BSA medical committee whose chairman Dr Solly Selepe makes recommendations after conducting medical examinations of fighters.
When Kodwa appoints the interim structure, he will not be doing something that is unprecedented.
It happened before his time. Former sports minister Ngconde Balfour abolished the Boxing and Wrestling Control Act 39 of 1954 and did away with with provincial commissions and the head office of the South African National Boxing Control Commission in 1999.
Balfour, as sports minister, appointed an interim structure, while waiting for then president Thabo Mbeki to sign off the proposed new boxing act.
He the appointed the inaugural seven-member board. Boxing SA’s COO Mandla Ntlanganiso, who is the acting CEO, right or wrong, has issued clearance to Jackson Chauke who won the IBO flyweight in England.
Sivenathi Nontshinga is in Mexico for an IBF junior-flyweight world championship that will take place on Sunday – thanks to Ntlanganiso for that decision, it was in the best interest of fighters. Best wishes to Nontshinga and his team.
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