Cape Town - Athletics South Africa (ASA) has announced Aleck Skhosana as its candidate to contest the position of president of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC).
The election of a new board of SASCOC will be held in Johannesburg on March 28.
"The ASA believes that Skhosana - who is the current president of ASA - will be the ideal person to lead a new and enthusiastic board, which will have to hit the ground running in a race to ready Team South Africa for the Olympic Games scheduled for Tokyo, Japan in July," ASA said via a press statement released on Friday.
ASA added that Skhosana was the right person to turn around the image of the embattled SASCOC.
FULL ASA STATEMENT:
With three years already wasted on in-fighting during the 2017 to 2020 period, ASA is confident that with Skhosana at the head, with his new board will turn around SASCOC’s battered reputation and image which are at their all-time low.
This means SASCOC has a task of mending broken bridges with its key funders the National Government, the National Lotteries Commission and the corporate sector, by first implementing the recommendations of the Zulman commission of inquiry whose report unearthed incriminating practices which led to poor finances, lack of funding and demoralised member federations.
ASA’s confidence in Skhosana is rooted on his proven and progressive style of collective leadership that closes the door on dictatorship. In urging members to support the visionary nomination of Skhosana, we also call upon fellow federations to vote in a credible team of men and women to steer the turnaround process that SASCOC desperately needs. This means we should not elect friends and allies, but instead individuals with leadership qualities and who are principled.
It is without doubt that once elected, Skhosana and the new board will have to revisit the policy documents of SASCOC and adjust them where they need to. These policies will need to be implemented through a strong management structure, once approved by the General Assembly.
This means a well-oiled leadership, senior management and staff must work hand-in-hand with national federations who are custodians of individual sporting codes and provincial structures in a well synchronised manner, in order for SASCOC to have the desired reach and spread to all corners of the country with emphasis to the remotest communities. The leadership and senior management at all levels must therefore, ensure that staff understands the core business of SASCOC. This will help in delivering the mandate of the organisation effectively and efficiently.
It is this confidence that Skhosana and his board will need to take to the Government, NLC and other financial sectors, to show that a new, clean SASCOC is in the making and means business. SASCOC needs to regain the trust and support of its traditional funders and of potential new ones.
We need a new looking SASCOC to reopen those negotiations for the funding of athlete’s development and team delivery that should be targeted to a four-year Olympic cycle. The organisation will need to further highlight the fact that sport is a national priority and the main driver of nation building and unity.
That means athletes’ support is paramount. To that end we need a SASCOC that continuously engages the country’s most prized asset, the athletes and listen to their critical needs. A Skhosana-led administration will assure us of a future where athletes and coaches will function without having to worry about their living expenses and instead concentrate on training and participation internationally to prepare, gain experience and perform at world level.
Similarly on the top of priorities, is that SASCOC needs to regain the respect of all our international stakeholders like IOC, IPC, CGF, IWGA, ANOC, ANOCA, AU and several others. This means a national Olympic mother body that is highly ethical and honest, with leaders of integrity and who are goal-oriented, who adhere to high standards of corporate governance. The SASCOC we are talking about must have the necessary checks and balances that are transparent at all times.
Only with such transformation shall we have a SASCOC with a 100 percent backing of the nation.
- Athletics South Africa