THE Parliamentary Portfolio Committee in Sport has accused South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) of dragging its feet in addressing the issue of transformation in other sporting codes.
Sascoc was called before parliament on Wednesday to account, as the mother body of all sporting codes in Mzansi, to answer why other codes aren't addressing the quota system issue.
Last week it was Safa before parliament who were grilled on the appointment of a foreign coach, instead of local and why it took the association so long to find the coach (Hugo Broos), among other things.
In its organisation, Sascoc was embroiled by so many shenanigans, leading to also the controversial appointment of its president Barry Hendricks.
To parliament’s disgust, Sascoc voted against the controversial amendments of the Memorandum of Incorporation (MOI).
Sascoc was forced to vote for the independent board to amend the MOI by Minister of Sport, Nathi Mthethwa, but they didn’t agree.
“The reports said all members of Sascoc voted against the MOI as approved by Member Council of South Africa,” said Albert Seabi, who is the portfolio committee member.
“Are we saying, Safa, Netball, rugby (Saru), Athletic SA (who all affiliated to Sascoc) have voted against transformation? Seemingly there’s a dispute, as I understand.
“I agreed with the Deputy Minister Nacawu Mafu that we don’t run sports through our feelings, but we are guided by the legislation. The legislation includes the Minister of Sport, Sascoc to have continuous discussions in the interest of sport in this country.”
Sascoc president, Hendricks, whose reasons of rejections were that government was interfering with the highest sport body in the country, which could lead to being banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said they are committed to addressing issues of transformation.
“I want to reiterate Sascoc’s commitment to transformation. The fact that I didn’t make any statement about cricket (who is failing to address the issue of transformation), was at the phase where I was not part of Sascoc,” said Hendricks.
“But we are willing to engage on issues of transformation and in fact, we’ll sit down with the department of the committee to try and create awareness.”
