Boxing man says Qithi disaster began on watch of veteran sports boss Ravele

The long-standing fiasco around dismissed former CEO Moffat Qithi that cost government-funded Boxing South Africa (BSA) R11m is alleged to have started because of a procedural error committed by the board chaired by veteran sports administrator Muditambi Ravele.

BSA board member Sakhiwe Sodo made the claim to parliament’s sport, arts and culture portfolio committee on Tuesday when the BSA board and officials were grilled over its qualified annual report that detailed an R8.78m deficit for the year ended March 31.

Sifiso Shongwe, chair of the BSA board that took office in May, told the committee the Qithi matter would have cost only R2m had BSA settled at the start. 

Qithi was suspended on full pay in 2013 after it emerged he had failed to disclose his criminal record, having been convicted of receiving stolen goods and drunken driving, when applying for the post. The Boxing Act states the CEO may not have a criminal record.

In mid-2015 a disciplinary tribunal chaired by adv Sicelo Mthethwa found Qithi guilty on several charges, including gross dishonesty for not disclosing his criminal record and recommended he be fired.

Sodo said on Tuesday the board took the decision to fire Qithi without being “quorate”. He said the board was chaired by Ravele, now a Cricket South Africa board member who has served in many roles in sport, including president of Netball South Africa and a board member of Tennis South Africa.

Ravele denied the claim. “There was no way we could take such a decision without forming a quorum,” she told TimesLIVE.

BSA boards are appointed by the sport minister every three years.

Sodo, the only surviving member of the board that stepped down in December, said he had warned the previous executive against fighting the Qithi matter because BSA had failed procedurally. 

He said he had also stopped the previous board, chaired by Luthando Jack, from writing off promoters’ debts that amounted to more than R6m.

“Had I not been on the board those debts would have been written off.”

Shongwe said his board had inherited a debt of R12m, including R4.5m payable to Sars.

The murder of CFO Kenneth Mamosaid Mamosadi earlier this year had also made the auditing process more difficult because some of the information he had gathered was inaccessible.

BSA’s director of operations and acting CEO, Mandla Ntlanganiso, said the regulator was also behind on its rentals and owed money to various service providers, including travel agents. He added he had been barred from finance committee meetings under the previous board.

Portfolio committee members demanded to know why the new board had not yet laid charges against former board or staff members implicated in corrupt behaviour. 

Sport minister Gayton McKenzie said BSA officials implicated in corruption at the embattled regulator would face criminal action and promised to get back to the committee in 21 days with a clear plan of action.

Committee members were unimpressed with BSA’s local travel costs and a telephone bill of more than R500,000.

The audited annual report, which was not made available, was qualified by the auditor-general for, among other things, failing to document its revenue collection adequately, a long-standing problem.