NSA questions gender fuelled discrimination in Parliament

NSA have come under scrutiny in recent weeks following their grilling by Portfolio Committee on Sport, Arts and Culture member Liam Jacobs, who posted an 8-minute clip from the session on his personal social media, which has since gone viral.

READ: Africa Netball make World Netball demand over NSA president

In a strongly worded statement released on Thursday evening, the national netball governing body, which was represented by an all-female leadership, condemned the the Democratic Alliance MP's hostile approach and accused him of gender discrimination.

"During a recent Parliamentary session, questions were raised , including specific line-item expenditures from NSA’s past financial records," read one part of the statement.

"In keeping with Parliamentary House Rules, Netball South Africa’s leadership (CEO) requested time to consult the appropriate records to ensure the accuracy of our responses.

"It is not only within our rights but also our responsibility to ensure that the information submitted to Parliament is factually correct and verifiable. 

"Despite this, NSA leadership was unfairly pressured to respond immediately to detailed financial queries, specific to the 2023/24 Financial Year.

"Such expectations are inconsistent with standard Parliamentary practice and risk undermining the integrity of governance processes. In terms of the Parliamentary rules regarding oral questioning, NSA is within its rights.

"The manner in which these questions were posed raises serious concerns. Safeguarding is a fundamental policy in sport and must never be taken lightly.

"However, the interrogative approach directed at our leadership risks undermining the very principles this policy seeks to uphold. 

"While we acknowledge that gender should not exempt anyone from accountability, it equally must not render us vulnerable to politically motivated targeting.

"The Portfolio Committee has seen 6 Federations (Boxing SA, SANABO, Basketball SA, Athletics SA, Swimming SA), but none of them has trending videos on social media platforms published by a member of Parliament for public humiliation. 

"Is this because NSA is a women led federation?"

ALSO READ: Parliament orders NSA to submit 2023 World Cup financial report

NSA further confirmed that they are preparing to send a detailed written response to the questions to which they could not respond verbally in the Parliamentary session, while defending that there was no mismanagement of funds.

It was also highlighted that government's funding of their programmes merely accounts for six percent in 2023/24 and three percent in 2024/25, with the rest coming from sponsorship, partnerships and fundraising efforts.