Swimming South Africa (SSA) has evaded answering questions about its governance structures put forward by the media and its own constituents.
Written questions from at least one prominent SSA member about eligibility issues before last weekend’s SSA elections were ignored. Similarly, media attempts to probe goings-on at the body have been ignored.
At the weekend, Daily Maverick reported that SSA held its quadrennial annual general meeting (QAGM) at which four members nominated to serve on the body’s next executive committee were, according to SSA’s constitution, ineligible for re-election.
Before the publication of the article, Daily Maverick provided SSA’s president, Alan Fritz — who was one of the four members and stood unopposed for re-election — with the right of reply.
Attempts to find out who was elected to the executive committee were unsuccessful. Since publication on Sunday, Daily Maverick has attempted to contact Fritz via WhatsApp messaging, email and phone calls.
The only response Daily Maverick received was a WhatsApp message on Monday from Fritz, stating that he would phone back at a later stage, which he did not do.
SSA members who oppose the current leaders were not invited to the QAGM.
While they can ignore the media (although questions and probing won’t stop), the leaders of SSA are likely to face a high court review of their conduct brought by the law firm Becker Kemp Attorneys.
If there is nothing untoward in their conduct, why not show constituents and the media the clauses in their constitution or in any other documentation which allow board members to serve upwards of three terms? This shouldn’t be a mystery.
A familiar pattern
This method of dealing with problems is not new for SSA. In February, Daily Maverick reported on the swimming federation’s decision to not send the national men’s and women’s water polo teams to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
SSA CEO Shaun Adriaanse said they did not believe that either team was good enough to win a medal at the Games and therefore should not go — despite qualifying as Africa’s best.
He did not respond to further queries.
Read more: Swimming SA dashes water polo players’ Paris Olympics dreams despite teams qualifying
Current and former water polo athletes and coaches told Daily Maverick they were mistreated by SSA after the publication of the story. Adriaanse, however, chose to not respond to any of the accusations.
Daily Maverick asked for a high-performance plan for water polo from SSA for the next Olympic cycle to ensure the team would be deemed “ready” for Los Angeles 2028.
There has been no response to this request, made at the end of February.
Daily Maverick’s correspondence with former women’s national water polo coaches Sarah Kravitz and Delaine Mentoor — who were removed from their positions without clear reasons — showed that SSA is accustomed to cutting communication. DM