Dark cloud hanging over Mbalula’s plan

The stunning Cabinet reshuffle by President Jacob Zuma has not only thrown the Treasury into a state of confusion but has had far-reaching implications to other spheres including the planned upgrade of a Duncan Village boxing club.

This after Zuma moved then Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula to the Police Ministry rendering confusion in projects the former was busy with.

One of those projects is the commitment by Mbalula to upgrade the run-down Duncan Village Boxing Academy (DVBA) in Gompo where hot boxing prospect Azinga Fuzile trains.

Touched by the appalling conditions of the club which has produced notable boxers, including Xolisani Ndongeni, Mbalula took upon himself to raise funds to turn the gym into a state-of-the-art facility.

The gymnasium is housed in an old dilapidated building which used to be a school.

Speaking to the Daily Dispatch last week before the reshuffling, Mbalula said plans were already in motion to start with construction.

This after he sent officials to East London to conduct a feasibility study and do some background research.

“One of our priorities was to make sure that the building is not privately-owned and we are glad that it belongs to the government because that makes our job easy,” Mbalula said at the time.

Now with him gone, the whole project has been plunged into uncertainty with Boxing SA-Eastern Cape manager Phakamile Jacobs, who is part of the committee appointed to handle the project, unsure about the way forward.

Jacobs confirmed that he did not know the future since Mbalula was moved from the Sports Ministry.

“The first thing that crossed my mind when I heard about the reshuffling was this project,” he said.

“Since then I have not heard anything as yet.”

DVBA owner Mzamo Njekanye, whose sterling work of taking kids off the street and teach them boxing at the rundown club, was also in the dark about the future of the project.

He had been busy engaging the Buffalo City Metro to iron out technicalities as instructed by Mbalula.

“I am also in the dark right now,” he said.

BSA chief executive Tsholofelo Lejaka, whose structure forms part of the project, said the issue would be a priority when he meets with the new Sports Minister Thulas Nxesi.

“It is the top of list of issues we need to update the new minister about,” he said.

However Lejaka cautioned against panic insisting that Mbalula had already left systems in place to continue with the project.

This included the registration of the club as a non-profit entity in order to be able to raise funding.

“Administratively the project is still in progress and we are hoping that the new minister will support it because it is for a good cause.”

The registration of the club is inline with the resolutions contained in the Dumile Matheza-Mesuli Zifo report which called for all boxing clubs to be registered as non-profit entities in order to be able to raise funding.

While the majority of the resolutions were never implemented, Lejaka said the non-registration of the gym proved to be a stumbling block as it did not have a bank account and financial statements which are crucial in fundraising from organisations such as the National Lottery.

“At least we have sorted that out and the next phase will be doing the fundraising.”

However, it remains to be seen if the project will carry the same weight it did when Mbalula was personally involved especially as he has an uncanny ability to sweet talk the corporate world.