Boxing row ends with McKenzie’s appointment of BSA board

The drawn-out legal stand-off which plunged boxing into a crisis involving the sports ministry, promoters and Boxing SA has ended, after the warring parties agreed to work towards stabilising the sport.

The undertaking was taken after sports minister Gayton McKenzie engaged in numerous meetings and consultations with the National Professional Boxing Promoters Association (NPBPA) before announcing the new BSA board in December.

The promoters were embroiled in a protracted court case against McKenzie’s predecessor, Zizi Kodwa, regarding the appointment of the board without consultation as per the Boxing Act.

Kodwa was forced to disband the board to abide by the court order before appointing it again in May, only for him to resign as sports minister, leaving McKenzie to inherit the consequences.

McKenzie dissolved Kodwa’s board in August and started reconciliatory moves with the NPBPA, leading to his appointment of the new structure.

However, his new board, chaired by Ayanda Zamantungwa-Khumalo, raised eyebrows due to its composition of virtually unknown faces.

The rest of the members are Mthokozisi Radebe, Sydney James, Vince Blennies, Rina Jude, Saudah Hamid and Siyakhula Simelane.

While he outlined a number of challenges which needed to be tackled by the new board with the restoration of the embattled sport top of the list, McKenzie instructed the structure to map the way forward with the NPBPA.

Association chair Ayanda Matiti confirmed that the meeting with the board had already taken place, though it was held virtually due to the festive season’s busy schedule.

“First and foremost, we as the executive of the NPBPA congratulate the new board and can attest that it has our blessings because it was appointed after extensive consultation by the minister,” he said.

“Our first meeting with it was just a greeting engagement without really tackling the challenges confronting the sport.

“We have scheduled a direct meeting in the next few weeks, where we will interrogate areas of convergence, but the crucial aspect that we all agree on is to stabilise boxing.”

The year-long legal battle reportedly turned off potential investors as boxing hogged headlines for all the wrong reasons.

While Matiti could not officially say the court challenge had been dropped, he confirmed that the association and McKenzie were singing from the same hymn book.

“Look, there will always be areas of difference, but we are happy with the commitment by the minister to ensure boxing returns to its former glory.

“The real winner here must be boxing and we are in unison on that.”

Several efforts to get a comment from Zamantungwa-Khumalo proved futile, though in correspondence, McKenzie thanked the association for its willingness to resolve the impasse.

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