Johannesburg - Civil society organisation AfriForum has written to the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) demanding that an independent investigation be launched against Netball SA.
The organisation says this comes after a documentary it produced entitled The True State of Affairs in Netball SA turned the spotlight on allegations of victimisation, sexual offences and mismanagement in Netball SA.
AfriForum said since the release of the documentary, more whistle-blowers had approached the organisation with further information that supports the allegations.
“Netball is one of the sports in South Africa that has incredible potential, but due to mismanagement and political agendas, this potential is not being fully exploited,” said the organisation.
Ronald Peters, manager of AfriForum Sport, said it was clear that the information disclosed in this documentary had caused great unhappiness among the public.
“People are now requesting that steps be taken to investigate these allegations and hold the guilty parties accountable,” said the organisation.
“The Netball World Cup is around the corner, and the official hashtag of the World Cup is #TakingNetballBackToThePeople. Therefore, it is very positive for us to see that people and the private sector are standing up against the alleged injustices in Netball SA and in South African sport as a whole. This is the only way we can ensure a better future for sportspeople in South Africa,” says Peters.
AfriForum strongly condemns the mismanagement of sports federations and sport governing bodies in South Africa because it has a significant impact on the role that sport should play in the development and empowerment of communities.
In the letter, AfriForum detailed that Sascoc was responsible for ensuring the proper governance of various sporting codes in South Africa, with Netball being one of these codes.
As stipulated in Sascoc’s constitution, the body accepts the responsibility to “take action against any discrimination and violence in sport” and “to encourage the development of sport for all” as part of its mandate.
“We failed to obtain any evidence that Sascoc has made any worthwhile attempt to properly investigate the allegations that are made against Netball SA, even though some of these serious allegations were brought to the attention of the governing body as far back as 2018,” read the letter.
The organisation requested that, among the points to investigate, it launch an independent investigation into the allegations highlighted by AfriForum’s documentary about Netball SA and act in accordance with its constitution and mandate by ensuring that all evidence gathered through the independent investigation into Netball SA is acted upon and that all transgressions are dealt with in accordance with the constitution and regulations of the applicable sporting code, among other possible sanctions.
AfriForum said in the letter that it would be looking forward to Sascoc’s response by July 4.
The Star