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Minister of Sport, Arts, and Culture Zizi Kodwa is today expected to announce the new process to be followed in appointing yet another new Boxing South Africa (BSA) board.
This was confirmed by Kodwa's spokesperson Litha Mpondwana when explaining the reasons behind the withdrawal of the intention to oppose part A of the court challenge brought by the National Professional Boxing Promoters Association (NPBPA).
The NPBPA had taken Kodwa, BSA, and the new board to court in December, citing a lack of consultation before the board was appointed.
They were successful in interdicting the new board but Mpondwana assures that the latest developments don’t affect the Accounting Authority Mandla Ntlanganiso.
"The minister's withdrawal of part A of the court matter of the NPBPA is not a means of saying that the case is closed but rather the minister is going back to the drawing board to satisfy the concerns around that there had been a lack of consultation regarding the appointment of the board," Mpondwana said.
"So, there will be that process where to appoint Boxing South Africa board but that does not mean that the sport will be at a standstill again because the accounting authority for Boxing South Africa was appointed in accordance with the Public Finance Management Act and the Accounting Authority will be in place until a new board is constituted."
The new board which was chaired by Sifiso Shongwe, Princess Mangoma, Nande Mheshe, Sakhiwe Sodo, Luxolo September, Romy Titus, and Dr Mary-Gene Manthata-Setati, only served a day before it was interdicted.
Mpondwana expects Kodwa’s statement today, to bring closure on the way forward for boxing in the country.
"On Tuesday, the minister will give a public statement to address stakeholders in the boxing fraternity and the nation as well, just on the next steps and the road map patterning to addressing this matter of the Boxing South Africa board.
"But we can confirm that the sport of boxing will not be interrupted in any way by this withdrawal instead as the process to appoint a new board is ongoing, the Accounting Authority for boxing will still be acting in their role as the Accounting Authority for boxing. Fights will be going underway and also all efforts to continue to address the governance challenges facing South African boxing will continue."
The NPBPA led by its chairperson Ayanda Matiti was calling for a consultative process before Kodwa makes his final decision on the appointment of the board and not only nomination.
This standoff between NPBPA, Kodwa, BSA, and other boxing licenses had sent the sport into a state of paralysis, with some programmes having stalled.
