The finance committee of Boxing South Africa (BSA) has a huge task on its hands as the regulator’s financial situation needs to be taken care of as a matter of urgency.
As recently as December last year, BSA’s coffers ran dry in so much that the regulator had to go beg the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture for a financial bail out in order for it to be able to pay staff salaries between January and end of March this year.
“The financial situation we have inherited is really challenging. We are in the middle of a tunnel. A dark tunnel. But we will emerge with patience. With the right structures and focus,” Luxolo September, a BSA board member and chairperson of the finance committee, said.
“We have massive challenges. I think sometimes we don’t realise the damage the last few years have done to Brand Boxing and the finances of the organisation. For a short period, we must adopt the “brace” position but with our eyes open. We must change the direction of the ship.”
Having been in the board since their appointment by former Minister of Sport Zizi Kodwa in May this year, September said that they have begun to work towards the financial health of the boxing regulator.
“I think there is a lot of good work that the board has done under the leadership of Sifiso (Shongwe). I think there is momentum. We have massive challenges,” the Confederation of African Football (CAF) executive for commercial and TV rights remarked.
“The reality is – we are the board now and we inherit the good and the bad. I think we will turn around the financial situation at BSA. I’m adamant. The board – we have a young vibrant board. We have a young chairman. We have a lot of focused individuals.”
To keep the sponsorless regulator afloat, BSA gets almost R20 million from the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture. – Monwabisi Jimlongo
