By Monwabisi Jimlongo
After watching Boxing South Africa (BSA) losing court cases and the administrators continuing to make questionable decisions, Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Zizi Kodwa has insisted that something needs to be done to save the fistic sport.
Speaking at the controversial South African Boxing Awards ceremony at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre (ICC) in Durban on Friday, Kodwa said: “I don’t think Boxing South Africa is at a level where all of us expect it to be. Personally, as a Minister of Arts and Culture I’m not happy about the level of Boxing South Africa now, but there is room for improvement.
“We need to work together with the leadership as well as the board to lift up Boxing South Africa to where it was. Let us take off what we can do, all of us, to elevate boxing in this country to another level.”
Aiming to ensure that the bungling prone BSA administrators and board members stop messing around with the fistic sport, Kodwa has revealed that he’s going to meet the powers-that-be at the regulatory body.
“As a department, we will be meeting with BSA soon. Unless we get the basics right, among others is to stabilise leadership. Without a stabilised leadership, we can’t achieve what we have been able to achieve to lift up the standard of boxing in South Africa,” Kodwa said.
“And soon we will be having that meeting. Boxing was one of the top three sports in the country, it’s all in our hands. Under my leadership, I’m committed to make sure that we bring boxing back to its glory days.”
Apart from its legal troubles where its former boss Moffat Qithi has won all court cases against the regulatory body, BSA has not had a permanent CEO since Tsholofelo Lejaka resigned in August 2020.
Former BSA director of operations Cindy Nkomo acted as CEO until she had enough and left the organisation at the end of December 2011. Erick Nsikayezwe Sithole has been acting BSA CEO since January last year.
