Publications
Partners
Johannesburg - The race to fill the vacant positions of president and vice-president of Athletics South Africa (ASA) is set to hot up after the federation distributed an initial list of nominees to the provinces and board members this weekend.
After sending the names of nine candidates for president and 10 for vice- president, however, ASA later withdrew the list, according to a senior athletics official who received it.
The two positions were left vacant after the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) found former president Leonard Chuene and vice-president Kakata Maponyane guilty of financial impropriety in February.
Chuene was banned from involvement in any sport under the jurisdiction of SASCOC for seven years, and Maponyane was handed a five-year ban.
The two positions will be filled at a special ASA annual general meeting on July 30.
Among the nine nominees for president on the withdrawn list were current ASA chairman James Evans who has been running the sport since the new board took the reins of ASA in September last year.
Evans, however, could be forced to deal with a proposed motion of no-confidence set to be brought against him by SA Schools Athletics (SASA
Evans was reportedly accused last month by SASA of disregarding the ASA constitution after he had consulted with the Department of Sport and Recreation without the knowledge of the schools body or the national federation.
Marathon runner and assistant ASA administrator Hendrick Ramaala also looked set to be in the running for the chief post.
Ramaala, nominated for the president's position in the withdrawn list, said on Sunday he was the right man to lead ASA in a rebuilding phase after a controversial period.
"I want to be part of the solution and I am looking to unify the sport," said Ramaala.
"I come from an athlete's background and I believe athletes should be allowed to lead.
"Athletes and coaches have a lot to contribute and we know what is happening on the ground."
Ramaala said it was up to all stakeholders in the sport to find a solution to the problems facing athletics in the country.
"I believe I have a solution but the sport should not be run by one man only," he said.
"Whoever comes in must come with a solution as the athletes have suffered enough."
Boland athletics chief Harold Adams, who was the ASA team doctor when Caster Semenya competed at the 2009 World Athletics Championships amid a cloud of controversy, had also been nominated for the position of president, according to the initial list released by ASA.
KwaZulu-Natal Athletics president Aleck Skhosana was also among the initial nominees put forward for both president and vice-president.
Skhosana's province, however, faced an independent audit following allegations of financial irregularities.
Fellow ASA board member Motlatsi Keikabile of Athletics North West was also challenging for the president's post.
Among the nominees for the vice-president's seat were ASA athletes' chair and former sprinter Geraldine Pillay, a Commonwealth Games medallist, and Central Gauteng Athletics president James Moloi who would also run for president.
The list of nominees for president, which was released by ASA and then withdrawn on Saturday are: James Evans (Western Province Athletics), James Mokoka (Central Gauteng Athletics), Motlatsi Keikabile (Athletics North West), Hendrick Ramaala (Central Gauteng Athletics), Aleck Skhosana (KwaZulu Natal Athletics), William Mokatsanyane (South African Schools Athletics Committee), Tshifhiwa Makhoshi (Limpopo Athletics), Harold Adams (Boland Athletics), James Moloi (Central Gauteng Athletics).
Vice-president nominees: Hendrick Ramaala (Central Gauteng Athletics), James Moloi (Central Gauteng Athletics), Motlatsi Keikabile (Athletics North West), Aleck Skhosana (KwaZulu Natal Athletics), Godfrey Goliath (Eastern Province Athletics), Geraldine Pillay (Athletics Gauteng North), William Mokatsanyane (South African Schools Athletics Committee), Micheal Mbabane (Eastern Province Athletics), Harold Adams (Boland Athletics), Glen Bentley (University Sport South Africa Athletics).
