Promoters vow two-pronged court action against sport minister Kodwa

With one court victory already in the bag, boxing promoters on Thursday vowed to take sports minister Zizi Kodwa back to court in a two-pronged legal attack, claiming any form of the sport in the country right now was illegal.

The National Professional Boxing Promoters’ Association (NPBPA) executive told a press conference in Johannesburg Kodwa was in contempt of court and his latest move to keep boxing going was unlawful.

The NPBPA won an unopposed court interdict against the board appointed by Kodwa in December, claiming they had not been consulted by the minister, as required by the Boxing Act.

The board was in office for one day, during which they lifted the suspension of director of operations Mandla Ntlanganiso and made him acting CEO.

But the Boxing Act requires a board to appoint crucial committees to run the sport, notably one to sanction boxers and tournaments.

No board meant no committees, but late last month Kodwa appointed Ntlanganiso as accounting authority in terms of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), which he said allowed the regulator to function normally until the impasse was sorted.

But the NPBPA said on Thursday Kodwa had over-reached.

“It is clear that whenever an appointment of this nature is made, such appointment must be limited to the purpose of the PFMA and, by direct implication, cannot be extended to the purpose of any other Act [like the Boxing Act],” the NPBPA said in a statement distributed at the press conference.

“That purpose [of the accounting authority] has nothing to do with the sanctioning of events, particularly boxing tournaments.”

NPBPA executive members, including chair Ayanda Matiti, insisted further Ntlanganiso had been illegally appointed, not only as accounting authority but also as acting CEO.

They reiterated their claim Kodwa had been in contempt of court by allowing the board to take office for that day — they said the minister had agreed to hold off until the court had decided, but then he reneged.

Matiti said the NPBPA would ask the court that Kodwa be made to pay costs personally if he lost the case.

They also said Kodwa had failed to respond with court papers to the matter on which the interdict was sought in the first place — the allegation that he failed to consult them as required by the Act — and that they had since applied that the matter go to the unopposed roll.

During the press conference they said they wanted to be consulted by the minister on the board because they wanted to negotiate. But lawyers have said a precedent already exists stating that consultation did not equate to negotiation.

If the NPBPA’s interpretation of the law is correct then professional boxing in South Africa could be at a standstill for up to several months. Matiti believed there could even be repercussions for fighters like world champion Sivenathi Nontshinga, whose clearance to fight for the IBF junior-flyweight title in Mexico last month was signed off by Ntlanganiso. 

The promoters alleged the fiasco was Kodwa’s fault and not theirs.

But they said there was a quick fix — for Kodwa to meet them to hammer out a solution agreeable to all.

To date Kodwa had refused to meet them, they said, adding they had also lodged complaints with president Cyril Ramaphosa and parliament.