Court cases are not what the new Boxing SA (BSA) board wants to face as a means of resolving issues with licensees.
Not now, not any time soon, and certainly not when this board has been in office for only a month.
That had become a norm with the previous board which dealt harshly with licensees by suspending their licences, often for voicing unhappiness about how the sport was administered.
The old board spent more than R2m trying to fight cases that could have been resolved out of court, and it lost all those cases.
Some licensees are still suspended. The old board’s three-year term expired on December 12 and it still has to hand over matters to the new leadership.
The sooner that happens, the better for the new board, which needs to move swiftly in mopping up some of the mess left by its predecessors.
TimesLIVE Premium is informed court cases are imminent because licensees prevented from doing duty in their different designations are in the dark about their future.
Board member Sakhiwo Sodo said at a hotel in Sandton, where the new board held its first media briefing, they “are in contact with the previous board, particularly its chair Luthando Jack”.
“Before the end of June we are planning a session of engaging, particularly on the handover, so we know how far the board has gone and we can take the baton from where they left off.”
In that briefing, another board member, Luxolo September, pleaded with the boxing fraternity to bring to an end the culture of resolving conflicts through courts.
“It’s not business-friendly. We are not going to talk to each other through lawyers or through courts,” he said.
Under the previous leadership many licensees who voiced unhappiness about how boxing was being administered were suspended. Trainer Charity Mukondeleli and ring announcer Dev Currer claimed to be examples.
Promoter Jacob Mnisi, a greenhorn in promotion of professional boxing, had his licence suspended in December 2022.
It is back to square one for boxers in Mpumalanga, going to other provinces with little chances of winning.
— Promoter Jacob Mnisi
The previous board alleged Mnisi's J4 Joy International Promoter violated regulations, but the promoter says no charges were presented to him.
The suspension was announced by the old board based on developments around the invitation of Floyd Mayweather Jr and the use of Zulu King Misuzulu to promote the event.
The promoter's CEO Arnold Nododile announced retired mega-star Mayweather Jr would be a guest of the king, officially launching the Bayede Belt to be given to the winner of the KwaZulu-Natal junior welterweight title fight between Mthobisi Nkosi and Lindokuhle Dlamini.
Multiple problems caused the King Misuzulu International Boxing Tournament to be cancelled. Despite not getting into the ring, all boxers contracted to fight in that botched tournament got their full purse money.
Mnisi said he wants his licence back, adding: “I need clarity on this matter or I will pursue the legal route.”
Mnisi had some success as a promoter, especially for fighters from Mpumalanga.
He promoted a World Boxing Federation female championship bout that Matshidiso “Scorpion Lady” Mokebisi from the Free State lost to Katie Healey from the UK. Among his stable, Thato “Captain Charisma” Bonokoane was crowned WBF junior featherweight champion, Xolani Mgidi and Arnel “Hope” Lubisi won Mpumalanga titles and late Gauteng-based Ronald Malindi recorded his fourth successful defence of his South African bantamweight title in a tournament Mnisi staged in Mpumalanga.
“It is back to square one for boxers in Mpumalanga, going to other provinces with little chances of winning,” Mnisi said.
BSA acting CEO Mandla Ntlanganiso said the new board would tackle all legal matters on the appointment of a new legal firm.
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