The Boxing South Africa (BSA) 104-page annual report for the 2022/23 financial year makes for some interesting reading with the auditor-general of South Africa Tsakani Maluleke having revealed, among other things, that the regulatory body failed to act against officials who incurred irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
While addressing Parliament on BSA, auditor-general mentioned quite a number of things her office picked up while looking at the boxing regulatory body’s books.
“Effective and appropriate steps were not taken to collect all revenues due as required by section 51 (1)(b)(i) of the PFMA,” the auditor-general told Parliament.
Speaking on irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure, the auditor-general said: “I was unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence that disciplinary steps were taken against officials who had incurred irregular expenditure as required by section 51(1)(e)(iii) of the PFMA. This was because investigations into irregular expenditure were not performed.
“I was unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence that disciplinary steps were taken against officials who had incurred fruitless and wasteful expenditure as required by section 51(1)(e)(iii) of the PFMA. This was because investigations into fruitless and wasteful expenditure were not performed.”
While no steps were taken against officials who incurred irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure, members of the BSA board smiled all the way to the bank.
For instance, after attending 18 meetings, BSA board chairperson Luthando Jack pocketed R199 604 in remuneration and other unnamed allowances.
Another board member Suren Maharaj, who attended the same number of meetings as Jack, received R170 667, which also included other unnamed allowances.
Gilberto Martins, Azwitamisi Nthangeni and Sakhiwe Sodo each pocketed R150 489, R121 535 and R109 176 respectively after each attended 17 meetings. Sodo also earned R64 644 as the chairperson of the BSA sanctioning committee.
Having returned to the BSA board in October 2022 as Zandile Kabini’s replacement, Khulile Radu received R42 988 after he attended six meetings. Radu also pocketed R140 062 as chairperson of the renew, grow and transform committee while Loyiso Mtya earned R96 120 for being a member of the committee.
Kabini, who resigned in August last year, earned R58 626 after she attended nine meetings. The amount also included unnamed allowances.
The combined board emoluments amounted to R853 085, down from R970 268 during the 2021/22 financial year. Overall, board and subcommittee fees increased from R1,4 million to R1,6m.
Interim BSA chief executive officer Erick Nsikayezwe Sithole’s acting allowance was R1,6m including other unnamed benefits. Sithole, who has been the boxing regulator’s acting CEO since January last year, is also a BSA board member.
With BSA having lost quite a number of court cases, its legal expenses increased from R1,1m to R1,3m.
Notably, the annual report also revealed that the 2022/23 financial year saw local travelling shooting up by more than 300 percent from R1.2 million to R5.5 million.
