Green light for Mandla Ntlanganiso at Boxing South Africa

This follows the ruling of Gauteng North High Court in Pretoria, which threw out the application of the National Professional Boxing Promoters Association (NPBPA) based on lack of legal standing.

The NPBPA had asked the court to declare Minister of Sport, Arts, and Culture Zizi Kodwa’s appointment of BSA Accounting Authority invalid and irregular, and that did not grant him powers to sanction boxing fights or tournaments.

They went further to state that all the fights which were sanctioned by BSA after 13 December 2023, be declared invalid and null and void.

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The application was also seeking an order to stop BSA from sanctioning boxing tournaments until a legitimate board was appointed.

In her ruling, Judge Nelisiwe Mali dismissed the application with costs as she found that NPBPA had no legal standing within BSA.

The Promoter’s body was ordered to pay the costs of all the respondents [The Minister of Sport, Minister of Finance, BSA, and Ntlanganiso], they were also ordered to pay the costs of two counsel, including the Senior Counsel.

The stand-off between the NPBPA and Kodwa, BSA and Ntlanganiso started in December 2023, when the Minister appointed a new BSA board which has since been dissolved the process to appoint a legitimate board is underway.

NPBPA had complained that Kodwa had not consulted extensively with them as promoters as mandated by the Boxing Act before he appointed the board.

That application was successful in interdicting the new board from assuming office but just on the day they were in office, they appointed Ntlanganiso, who had been suspended by the previous board as the Acting CEO.

With the board interdicted and BSA having no leadership, Kodwa proceeded to appoint Ntlanganiso as the Acting Authority, using the National Treasury’s Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).

On 2 April 2024, Kodwa and NPBPA looked headed for an amicable solution after the case was stood down in court until the following week, to allow the two parties to find each other.