Promoters' body questions BSA process

The appointment this week of Boxing SA's ratings and sanctioning committees by the regulator's accounting authority Mandla Ntlanganiso has been described as a flagrant disregard of the SA Boxing Act by promoter Lebo Mahoko.

Mahoko, however, made it clear yesterday that the approach is not personally directed at Ntlanganiso.

Speaking in his capacity as deputy chairman of the National Professional Boxing Promoters Association (NPBPA), Mahoko said: "We would have objected irrespective of who the incumbent in the position was."

Mahoko said it is only the sitting board of BSA which has the right and powers – vested in it by the SA Boxing Act No 11 of 2001 – to appoint those two committees.

"People continue to violate the act which governs boxing in South Africa and we as the NPBPA are not going to keep quiet because we are the vanguard of the Boxing Act," he said.

'We will do everything to protect it. We know exactly what constitute the ratings and sanctioning committees. Those committees report to the board and not an individual."

Mahoko said they want boxing matters resolved urgently. "All what we want is boxing happening inside the ring within the prescripts of the act, which is the Bible of boxing here," he said.

The appointment of the two committees was confirmed via a press release.

There is no board of BSA currently following the dispute which ensued after sports minister Zizi Kodwa appointed one last year. The matter has yet to be resolved.

Ntlanganiso's appointment letter stipulates that he must consult the minister's office on decisions regarding the appointment of functionaries for the executive team, committee appointments supporting BSA governance, and other strategic or operational matters.

"I did exactly that and the minister concurred with the appointments because work has to be done; there has to be functionalities in boxing and these are two critical committees that must be there. they are the heartbeat of boxing," Ntlanganiso said. 

The two newly established ratings and sanctioning committees boast individuals who have credible track records within the fistic sport.

Andre de Vries – a former boxing commentator, boxers' record consultant and collector of fight records – leads the ratings committee alongside Nika Kumalo (former SA two-weight champ), Xolile Dike (a retired boxer from the Eastern Cape) and former IBO bantamweight champ Silence "African Spice" Mabuza.

Former SA lightweight champion Irvin "Pretty Boy" Buhlalu is chair of the sanctioning committee. Other members are BSA provincial manager in Limpopo Tinyiko Nkatyingi, Droeks Malan, who is listed as an estate agent and writer for Ring Magazine, and veteran ring official Siya Vabaza Booi.