A veil of secrecy has blanketed the planned Boxing SA bosberaad in East London, with no-one in the regulatory office willing to officially reveal the exact venue.
The two-day meeting, slated for February 20 and 21, will mark the first time the newly appointed BSA board will come to the Eastern Cape to discuss boxing with licensees since being announced by sports minister Gayton McKenzie in December.
However, despite the meeting being less than three weeks away, providing information about it, such as an exact venue in East London, proved difficult for BSA head honchos, who kept shifting responsibility.
Board chair Ayanda Zamantungwa-Khumalo could only confirm the bosberaad but refused to provide more information and instead referred questions to BSA acting chief executive Tsholofelo Lejaka.
“We as the board have taken a decision to grant interviews after the bosberaad itself, so if you have questions, it is better you contact the acting CEO,” she said.
Lejaka also passed the buck when approached, saying the event was part of McKenzie’s programme and was being handled by his office.
“The minister will update the boxing community and broader public at the right time but as BSA we unfortunately cannot comment on it,” he said.
Several attempts to get comment from McKenzie’s office were unsuccessful.
Despite the veil of secrecy, the event is set to punch the sport into shape with a slew of reforms expected to be interrogated after McKenzie instructed the board to facilitate the amendments of some of the controversial regulations seen as an impediment to the sport’s development.
The board, which also includes Mthokozisi Radebe, Sydney James, Vince Blennies, Rina Jude, Saudah Hamid and Siyakhula Simelane, has hit the ground running since being unveiled, having already held meetings with crucial boxing stakeholders including staff.
The board also held a virtual engagement with the National Professional Boxing Promoters’ Association, which was at loggerheads with the previous board and McKenzie’s predecessor, Zizi Kodwa.
Association chair Ayanda Matiti declined to speak about the bosberaad, saying the event was in BSA’s hands.
“We as the association do not want to jump the gun by talking about BSA programmes, suffice to say we support any initiative to take boxing forward,” he said.
It is not clear whether discussions for regulations amendments will form part of the bosberaad, though promoters are understood to be gunning for a change to the sanctioning model, which had led to some owing BSA millions of rand.
McKenzie is understood to have flagged the sanctioning model to prevent promoters from incurring financial losses when staging tournaments, even when they do not make a profit.
Daily Dispatch
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