The U18 African Basketball Championship was held in Pretoria in September after the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture intervened at the last minute.
- MPs say Basketball SA (BSA) is in disarray and should be placed under administration.
- BSA had R5-million in liabilities but only R36,000 in the bank at the end of 2023/24.
- Sports minister Gayton McKenzie has promised accountability and an investigation, but no findings have been made public as yet.
Members of Parliament’s portfolio committee on sports, arts and culture say they want the board of Basketball South Africa (BSA) dissolved.
This comes after BSA nearly bungled hosting the International Basketball Federation’s U18 Basketball African Championships in August last year.
During a meeting on 18 March, the portfolio committee members said BSA should be placed under administration and have its government funding cut until it has fixed its ongoing issues.
Because BSA falls under the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC), only SASCOC can dissolve the board or place it under administration. The portfolio committee has reached out to SASCOC for updates on its interventions, but as of Friday received no response.
“They [BSA] don’t have plans. They are in disarray,” committee chair Joseph McGluwa (DA) told GroundUp.
The meeting on 18 March was the third between BSA and the committee after two previous attempts to present the organisation’s 2024 annual report.
In October, a meeting was adjourned by McGluwa because the annual report was deficient.
At a second meeting on 18 February, the annual report was presented but lacked financial information. The committee had only received BSA’s audited financial statements the evening before the meeting. Consequently, the portfolio committee decided not to discuss the report.
On 18 March, the committee reconvened a meeting for BSA to present their audited financial statements.
It was revealed that BSA’s auditors gave an unqualified audit opinion, but raised concerns about the organisation’s financial viability: at the end of the financial year, BSA had R36,000 in the bank but R5-million in liabilities.
Several MPs expressed concern that the financial statements did not give proper insight into how the BSA conducts its financial dealings.
MPs from the ANC, DA and PA said they do not support the current leadership and advocated for their immediate removal. They said the BSA has undermined the work of the committee by not being sufficiently prepared for meetings.
No accountability for Afrobasket mishap
Less than two weeks before the biennial U18 Afrobasket tournament in August, BSA still had not announced a national team, the venues or plans to accommodate teams from 12 participating countries.
After we published our article in August, sports minister Gayton McKenzie posted on social media, promising to look into the matter and report back the following day.
Cassiday Rangata-Jacobs, spokesperson for McKenzie, said the department ended up hiring a service provider to handle the preparations and payment for the tournament. In answer to a parliamentary question, McKenzie said Ticketpro was appointed and the contract was for R18-million.
Until recently, the minister has dodged our questions on the steps he has taken to hold BSA accountable. On Wednesday, spokesperson Stacey-Lee Khojane said the department was finalising its investigation and “an announcement” on the findings would be made by May.
During the meeting with the portfolio committee on 18 February, BSA treasurer general Victor Bergman acknowledged BSA had faced challenges organising the tournament, including raising funds. It only had R300,000 in its account at the time, but the tournament was estimated to cost between R12-million and R20-million.
In September last year, GroundUp sent a public access to information (PAIA) request to BSA president Sanele Mthiyane and Fondini, requesting information on the federation’s payments and transfers from 2015 to 2024. Neither responded. A follow-up PAIA appeal was sent in October.
In a phone call, Mthiyane told GroundUp he would not answer the requests or any of our questions as he is unhappy with our reporting. Mthiyane and Fondini had failed to answer our questions before we published our first story on BSA.
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Hang 11
Lala Amarnath is the only bowler to dismiss Don Bradman in Test cricket – This happened in the 1948 Brisbane Test.
Nice Gnome
The original cricket wickets used only two stumps over which a bail is attached. This design was changed in 1775 after an English cricketer, Lumpy Stevens, was able to bowl three consecutive balls that shot clear between the stumps. This is why modern wickets have three stumps instead of just two.