The maladministration games — South Africa's sports leadership just keeps dropping the ball

Daily Maverick

11-05-2025

'It happens every week. Something is going on that's negative in sports. It does get depressing … It becomes really embarrassing and confusing when your major sports find themselves in positions like this. It's mainly about bad leadership and bad governance.'
These were the lamentations of South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) president Barry Hendricks when he appeared in Parliament alongside Netball South Africa (NSA) for a routine oversight engagement by the parliamentarians in April.
The twist to the customary visit by NSA came when the federation's president, Cecilia Molokwane, was suspended by World Netball. This was just a few days before NSA was set to appear before the Sport, Arts and Culture portfolio committee in Parliament.
Molokwane's absence resulted in the committee members turning up the heat on the NSA members who were present, including vice-president Mami Diale and chief executive Modiegi Komane.
Hendricks was caught in the crossfire, with the parliamentarians questioning the role of Sascoc with regard to the administrative issues that plague South African sports. They said Sascoc is sleeping on the job.
The jabs thrown at Hendricks resulted in him responding with the aforementioned words as he defended how the umbrella body carries out its business. He went on to emphasise that Sascoc tries not to interfere with the internal affairs of the organisations under its wing, trusting that their dispute resolution processes will function as designed.
Boardroom bullies?
Before her suspension, Molokwane was accused of a number of administrative misdemeanours, including allegations that she is manipulating internal processes to her own benefit ahead of this year's NSA elections.
Molokwane has regularly rubbished all the accusations that have followed her over the past few years, saying nameless and faceless accusations are baseless. She continues to sing from the same hymn book amid her suspension as World Netball investigates her.
'I vehemently deny having conducted myself in contravention of World Netball's disciplinary code and will vigorously defend any allegations which may subsequently be levelled against me,' Molokwane said.
Alarmingly, Molokwane is not the only federation president to be accused of frustrating internal processes and scything those who oppose her. Daily Maverick has reported extensively on the alleged transgressions of South African Football Association (Safa) president Danny Jordaan over the past few years.
For some of them, such as allegedly illegally misusing Safa funds for his own benefit, Jordaan is facing charges of fraud.
The Safa president, now in his third term, was arrested in November 2024 alongside Safa's chief financial officer, Gronie Hluyo.
In spite of some calls for Jordaan and Hluyo to step aside pending the finalisation of their court case, which seems set to drag on for some time still, the two Safa chiefs continue to hold on to their positions. This is because Jordaan allegedly heads a cabal in the Safa national executive that is said to function on a 'you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours' basis.
Just recently, Sunday World reported that Jordaan and Safa chief executive Lydia Monyepao are running the organisation like a fiefdom, in spite of the legal issues plaguing the president. The publication also said calls for Jordaan to step aside are growing louder.
But Safa dismissed the report as misinformation. 'These individuals have targeted the president and CEO with attacks that have been launched through certain media outlets and social media, in an attempt to change the regime at Safa. At the heart of the campaign is a misinformation operation that is intended to create the impression that there is chaos and destruction at Safa,' it said.
'The campaign has escalated in recent weeks, with some even going as far as posting a series of untruths on their own personal social media accounts, attempting to create the impression that the president and the CEO do not consult when making decisions.
'Nothing could be further from the truth.'
Lack of leaders
Coincidentally, former internationally acclaimed soccer referee Andile 'Ace' Ncobo was recently arrested alongside his wife, Salome Ncobo, on charges of fraud and money laundering. Ahead of the 2018 Safa elections, many viewed Ncobo as someone who would be a perfect upstanding candidate to overthrow Jordaan.
However, Ncobo pulled the plug on his election bid just a couple of months before the elections. Now he finds himself in a similar position to Jordaan, facing charges of fraud.
This is in connection with a R15-million donation for school construction projects in the Eastern Cape.
If someone like Ncobo, who was so respected before these allegations arose and charges were brought, can find himself in such a precarious position, it raises questions about the general quality of the available leaders in South African sport.
Widespread issue
Swimming South Africa, Athletics South Africa, Basketball South Africa, Boxing South Africa (before the instalment of its latest regime) and even historic sports events such as the Comrades Marathon and the Two Oceans Marathon have not been spared from negative publicity as a result of allegations of maladministration.
In 2020, Thabang Moroe, who was the chief executive of Cricket South Africa at the time, was sacked by the organisation after a forensic report detailed allegations of corruption against him. Moroe subsequently denied these allegations, saying he was being targeted by the media because of his race.
Cricket in South Africa continues to steadily recover from the carnage of this era, which also saw then president Chris Nenzani resign amid mounting public scrutiny.
As a result of the negative publicity at the time, the cricket federation lost a number of sponsors and crucial revenue for its operations.
That is the true cost of maladministration. No private entity wishes to be associated with organisations that constantly make headlines for all the wrong reasons, overshadowing the South African athletes who fly the country's flag high despite administrative ineptitude.
Of course, the poor leadership that Sascoc's Hendricks speaks of transcends sport. In South Africa, it seems that even if people take up positions with the purest intentions, they transform into rogues as soon as they have power.
If this were not the case too in politics, South Africa would be much further than it is currently – especially after the abolishment of apartheid.
But because power corrupts, South Africa has grown at the pace of a tortoise, when it had the potential to sprint like a hare. DM
This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.