Sports Minister Tokozile Xasa approves final report of SASCOC

Xasa presented the key findings and recommendations on Friday following the appointment of the committee on 20 October 2017 by the Department of Sport to conduct an investigation into alleged irregularities or malpractices in the governance and management of SASCOC.


Devdiscourse News Desk | Updated: 07-12-2018 21:09 IST | Created: 07-12-2018 20:22 IST
Sports Minister Tokozile Xasa approves final report of SASCOC
The Minister approved the final report and its executive summary and asked SASCOC to implement all the recommendations with immediate effect to activate. (Image Credit: Twitter)
  • Country:
  • South Africa

Sport and Recreation Minister Tokozile Xasa has approved the final report of the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC)/Zulman Committee of Enquiry and asked SASCOC to implement all the recommendations with immediate effect.

Xasa presented the key findings and recommendations on Friday following the appointment of the committee on 20 October 2017 by the Department of Sport to conduct an investigation into alleged irregularities or malpractices in the governance and management of SASCOC.

The committee comprises retired Judge Ralph Zulman as chairperson, practising attorney Shamima Gaibie as a member and Dr Ali Bacher as the other member.

The committee recommended, amongst others, that:

  • The National Sport and Recreation Act, 1998 (Act No. 110 of 1998 as amended) should be amended to include the details of a revised structure of SASCOC;
  • Clarity about the roles of the department, SASCOC and the entities that fall into the definition of a sport and recreation body, as well as their respective oversight roles;
  • SASCOC’s powers and duties, and its obligations to the department, and to every sport and recreation body;
  • An external and independent dispute resolution body, in terms of the Act, for disputes between sport and recreation bodies and between the latter and SASCOC; and
  • The details of what should be contained in SASCOC’s Constitution, including criteria for the eligibility of members to the board; a prohibition on the receipt of commissions from other entities in prescribed circumstances, as well as other issues relevant to the principle of ‘conflict of interest’.

Management structure

The committee also recommends that the management structure of SASCOC should consist of a Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operations Officer and a Director of Communications.

“In particular, each of these posts must be advertised and must be filled pursuant to a fair and equitable recruitment process by an independent committee. The appointees must not have any links with a sport or recreation body or must relinquish such links, if any, upon appointment.

“The appointments must be confirmed in a contract of employment, on a fixed term basis and subject to a probationary period, job description and key performance areas,” the report recommended.

As part of an interim measures to taken by the current board, the committee recommended that a process for the revision of all policies and procedures must be determined and that travel benefits and allowances for the SASCOC President, the members of the board and the CEO should be discussed, subject to the approval of an independent external auditor.

Appointment of SASCOC President

Although the committee recommended that the President of SASCOC must, amongst others, be a person who is independent, be appointed by an independent committee and be a person who has no affiliation to any sport and recreation body, Xasa said SASCOC effectively retains the current system of appointment and requires that the appointment of the President must be done through the General Assembly process, and not by an independent committee.

“The General Assembly of SASCOC will be at liberty to designate the positions of Deputy President and Vice-President respectively. It will be prudent that SACOC should streamline its functions as a Sports Confederation and also those that it plays as a National Olympic Committee,” Xasa said.

The Minister approved the final report and its executive summary and asked SASCOC to implement all the recommendations with immediate effect to activate.

“I decided to grant SASCOC as from the effective date until 30 April 2019 to execute, implement and fulfil all the said recommendations. SASCOC must provide me with an updated monthly report at the end of each month on its progress to execute, implement and fulfil the said recommendations in writing,” Xasa said.

(With Inputs from South African Government Press Release)

Give Feedback