Kodwa considering options for Boxing SA board vacuum

Minister of sport Zizi Kodwa insists he wants to bring boxing back to its glory.

It unclear how the minister will achieve that because he has not shared his plan.

“Whatever we do, we must make sure that there is clarity on issues of governance; there is clarity on issues of stability of leadership.” Kodwa said. 

This is the second time Kodwa has spoken about governance and stability in the leadership of Boxing SA.

The first time was when he disowned the regulator's annual awards in Durban in June. Kodwa wore a gloomy face when he addressed stakeholders at that ceremony.  Usually the sports ministry would own such a night because boxing falls under its office.

A week later Kodwa met with the board of Boxing SA. The content of that meeting was not shared with the fraternity but judging by the total overhaul of that board when he announced the new one in November said a lot about his intentions.

Normally, a minister would have retained at least two or three members of the old board for the sake of continuity but Kodwa brought back only one member and the rest were new.

But everything came to a standstill after that appointment because Kodwa lost the court case after being accused by the National Professional Boxing Promoters Association (NPBPA) of not negotiating in good faith with it.

Said Kodwa: “In a matter of days, I am contemplating a number of options, including that in the interim while we are dealing with the issue of the main application of the court ruling, whether we should consider appointing an administrator to do the same work that the board would have done.

“We are considering that because we do not want to see licensees, the boxers and the sport suffering because of the lacuna that is there because the board was interdicted.”

About six tournaments have been applied for by boxing promoters and some of them are planned for February. But there is no sanctioning committee. Promoter Rodney Berman has postponed an international tournament with the hope that the impasse between Kodwa and the NPBPA would have been resolved.