One board member was banned for life and another escaped sanction during an explosive Comrades Marathon Association (CMA) special general meeting (SGM) at Carter High School in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday.
The meeting to discuss the running of the CMA was called after allegations of racism and vote-rigging which led to former Comrades winner and race director Ann Ashworth leaving the organisation.
In June, shortly after the 97th edition of the world famous event, CMA board member Zinhle Sokhela posted racist allegations about Ashworth on social media, accusing her of actively recruiting white members to the board leading to “vanilla gate”.
Board chairperson Mqondisi Ngcobo said the CMA did not tolerate racism but had no authority to suspend Sokhela or force her to step down. A few days later Ashworth parted ways with the organisation and Sokhela was placed on suspension.
Accusations and allegations simmered and came to a head when on his blog Running Man, athlete Stuart Mann unravelled an investigative series on alleged vote rigging and vote buying by board members, with allegations of brazen theft of club property and bribery.
Members called for the special general meeting to address racism allegations by board members as well as the vote-buying accusations and claims of dodgy payments to “missing” marshalls. They also wanted governance concerns addressed and possible amendments made to the CMA constitution.
On Thursday more than 70 paid-up members of the CMA, including veteran winners Bruce Fordyce and Shaun Meiklejohn, secured an urgent interdict allowing them to attend and vote at Thursday’s SGM.
The members turned to the high court because the CMA claimed KwaZulu-Natal Athletics insisted only members resident in KwaZulu-Natal were allowed to have a say at the crucial meeting.
Proceedings at Thursday’s meeting got off to a rocky start as 230 of the 417 members present voted for Sokhela to be banned for life from serving on CMA structures after her much-publicised racial slur.
The Pietermaritzburg businesswoman submitted a letter which was read out by Ngcobo in which she apologised for what she called a poor choice of words.
“I apologise to the white people. I try to encourage black national groups to be active. To encourage black people to be involved requires one to talk to people directly. Given the ongoing challenges I owe it to myself and business partners to relinquish my position as a board member,” she said.
She stressed her resignation was not an admission of guilt but out of concern for her life and to focus on her business interests.
Sokhela, however, was critical of Mann and described him as a “journalist who has no qualification”.
Her fellow board member Isaac Ngwenya, who is alleged to have made racial utterances during a race organising meeting with Ashworth and other board members, escaped sanction. His matter didn't reach the voting stage as most abstained.
However, Ashworth addressed the meeting to make it clear she was not a “liar”. In her version, Ashworth recalled being questioned by Ngwenya for recruiting three white people.
“He said to me, 'why are you openly recruiting white volunteers? Are you trying to return us to the era of apartheid?'. Shortly after that the three started singing struggle songs under their breath. That entire thing was not minuted. I am not a liar. Just because it was not minuted it does not mean it did not happen,” she said.
Board members deputy chairperson Les Burnard and Steve Mkasi denied Ashworth’s version.
The final item of the evening was a motion to allow the AGM to be held in hybrid form, which would allow all members to participate, which was passed.
Mkasi said the meeting had put an end to the negative narrative about the board and the CMA.
“When the meeting started you could see the narrative was still strong. However, when the meeting proceeded people's eyes started to open up and people started seeing through..
“What was critical is you can’t deal with allegations. We come from a painful past where people in the townships were lynched with no evidence and all you needed to say was this one was an impimpi or a spy with no evidence. People will have a tyre put on them and be killed. We can’t have that in 2024 in a democratic South Africa,” said Mkasi.
He was also satisfied with the contents of Sokhela's resignation letter which he deemed to have been a reflection of remorse.
“It shows while some people found it hurtful, it was not her intention. I was happy that she explained herself. Personally I wish she could have done that sooner. It could have saved a lot of emotions.”
Comrades legend Fordyce expressed renewed optimism after the meeting.
“The allegations were always concerning but it seems the meeting has come through nicely. Nobody is fighting now, everyone seems to be quite happy.”
TimesLIVE
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