By Monwabisi Jimlongo
A mop-up operation meant to clean the dented image of South African boxing is on top of the agenda now that Sport Minister Zizi Kodwa has announced a new Boxing South Africa (BSA) board.
Kodwa announced a new seven-member BSA board in Hatfield, Pretoria, on Tuesday. He appointed Sifiso Shongwe as BSA board chairperson to work together with Luxolo September, Romy Titus, Princess Mangoma, Nande Mheshe, Sakhiwe Sodo and Dr Mary-Gene Manthata-Setati.
“People are keen to see a mop-up, which is one of the main issues. We hope we will deliver. There’s a lot that has to be done,” Shongwe remarked.
“I spoke to the Minister and he agreed that we have a lot to do. He gave me his vote of confidence. He asked me to do the job and forget about politics.”
According to the former boxing promoter, the first thing that they need to do is to ensure that people have confidence in them.
“We have to get the confidence of the people back. Remember, people had no confidence in the outgoing board,” Shongwe said.
With BSA having no permanent chief executive officer and the director of operations Mandla Ntlanganiso suspended since August, Shongwe has insisted that proper leadership at the boxing regulatory body is high priority.
“We must bring stability back in leadership, that’s one of the most important things to do. People have been acting and no one you can point to as the leadership. Once all those things are in place, I think the job will start being done,” he said.
The new board members, whose three-year term starts on Tuesday, 12 December, will tackle the Ntlanganiso matter once they have gone through a mini-briefing from the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture.
Ntlanganiso has taken BSA to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) after he was suspended on 10 August. BSA is yet to charge him despite being suspended for more than 90 days.
