Mark Smit
24 October 2008
Johannesburg — THE rush for positions in the hierarchy of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) - this country's most powerful sports body - started yesterday, with the announcement of nominations for the Sascoc elections on November 22.
Moss Mashishi, the incumbent president, finds himself going head-to-head with Gideon Sam, chairman of the National Lotteries Board distribution agency, for a new term as president.
Sam was formerly Springbok rugby team manager, president of Swimming SA (SSA) and the chairman of the South African Commonwealth Games Association.
He is best remembered during his tenure as SSA president for a blazing row with top swimmer Roland Schoeman, during the Athens Olympics in 2004.
Responding to Schoeman's comments about the lack of financial support from SSA for South African swimmers, Sam said: "If they want to swim for Uganda, then they must go."
Sam said at the time, SSA was very disappointed by what he described as " baseless allegations" by Schoeman and another top swimmer, Ryk Neethling, about SSA's lack of financial support for its elite swimmers.
After the Beijing Olympics in August, SSA chairman Jayce Naidoo, who is running for a position on the board in the coming election, admitted that funding was a problem for his organisation and he called on private enterprise to help.
Earlier this week, Sam announ-ced that R700m had been made available by the Lotteries Board for the funding of sport. Sam has also been nominated for the vice-presidency and for the board, but Mashishi's name appears only in the race for the presidency.
Sascoc vice-presidents Mark Alexander and Hajera Kajee, are among seven nominations for the vice-presidency. The others are Leslie Daniel Williams, Sylvia Dale, Colin Andrew Webster, Muditambi Ravele and Sam.
There is a virtual traffic jam for places on the Sascoc board, with 19 nominees - among them the long-time president of Athletics SA, Leonard Chuene - fighting for just five places. The nominees are Sam, Alexander, Williams, Dale, Motlatsi Keikabile, David Carr, Doctor Nkosi, Chuene, James Letuka, Mubarak Mahomed, Kajee, Webster, Kobus Marais, Malumbete Michael Ralethe, Ravele, Peter Goldhawk, Vijay Gajjar, Mveleli Edwin Ncula and Swimming SA president, Jace Naidoo
Sascoc is the controlling body for all high-performance sport in SA and was formed as a s ection 21 company, by representatives of all the sports bodies in 2004.
In terms of the Memorandum of Association, the main object is to promote and develop high-performance sport in SA, as well as to act as the controlling body for the preparation and delivery of t eam SA at all multi sport international games including, but not limited to, the Olympics, Paralympics, Commonwealth Games, World Games and All-Africa Games.
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