South Africa NOC Clears Election Hurdle

(ATR) The newly elected South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) President Barry Hendricks says it's time for the healing to begin.

Hendricks received 51 percent of the vote from SASCOC members voting in a first-ever virtual election. Hendricks succeeds Gideon Sam, who resigned late last year after reaching the age limit to serve.

"We need to work on relationship building with stakeholders, including the Sports Minister (Nathi Mthethwa), the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the Portfolio Committee on Sport and the Department of Sport," Hendricks said, as quoted by The Citizen.

Lwandile Simelane and Debbie Alexander were chosen as the first and second vice-presidents respectively. Simelane becomes the first African woman elected as first vice-president and it marks the first time women have been chosen to serve in both vice-president positions.

A record five women were elected to the board, including Kim Pople, Ilhaam Groenewald and Welhemina Grobbelaar.Alan Fritz, who finished second to Hendricks in the presidential vote, and Qondisa Ngwenya complete the eight elected positions.

"We together will now commit to form a unified progressive SASCOC board and conflict should be a thing of the past. We need to put the interest of sport in the forefront so that we regain our position as one of the best sporting organizations in the world," said Hendricks.

The elections were supposed to have been held on March 28 but were postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The past few months have been rife with in-fighting and disputes within the SASCOC board.

Hendricks was suspended by SASCOC for five months earlier this year due to allegations of conspiring with Tennis South Africa (TSA) President Gavin Cookes to prohibit TSA board member Ntambi Ravele from participating in November’s election. Hendricks was cleared of any wrongdoing in September.

The delays and disruptions drew the ire of the IOC, which threatened further measures if the election was delayed again. The IOC and IPC sent in Sam Ramsamy to help with resolving the various disputes and to facilitate a fair election.

The IOC is happy with the outcome, telling Around the Rings in a statement "The process leading to the SASCOC elections has been successfully completed on 7 November, with the holding of the SASCOC Elective General Assembly, as per the IOC/IPC roadmap.

"The IOC has received all the necessary reports and has formally acknowledged the election results. We understand that the situation of SASCOC is normalized."

Written by Greer Wilson

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