Selection chaos leaves SA water polo teams unprepared for World Cup

Swimming South Africa’s (SSA’s) handicapping of water polo has come under renewed scrutiny after multiple revisions to the men’s squad with just one month to go before the Division 2 World Aquatics Water Polo World Cup in April in Malta.

“The country’s governing body for aquatic sports announced the men’s and women’s teams on 19 February 2026, listing 14 players and non-travelling reserves (NTRs) – four for the women and six for the men.”

However, 15 days later, nearly half of the men’s squad was replaced. Four days after that, a third revision of the team was circulated, featuring two additional changes and a reshuffled coaching staff.

With the men’s tournament scheduled to take place between 7 and 13 April, this gives the new team just four weeks to prepare.

The instability follows a single poorly attended selection camp held in December last year, and, according to multiple sources, took place without the official selection committee present.

In addition, only one training camp has been scheduled, on 1 April, less than a week before the team competes.

This state of affairs was the norm, said one player, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of repercussion. They described a long-standing pattern of disorganisation where teams were selected a month before, usually with one camp, and players often meeting one another for the first time at the airport.

SSA chief executive officer (CEO) Shaun Adriaanse acknowledged delays in the process, saying the federation “regrets” the situation and was “taking steps to prevent this from happening in the future”.

However, the combination of late selection, constant revisions and minimal preparation raises serious questions about SSA’s ability to field a competitive national side.

At the core of the problem is a recurring failure to plan and prepare, a pattern that continues to undermine performance at international level.

Thrice revised

The first revised team list was issued on 6 March, with six changes made to the original squad and the NTRs reduced from six to two.

“Many athletes did not accept their selection, for various reasons, including work/leave factors, academic considerations and others. One athlete indicated affordability as a reason for refusing selection,” Adriaanse said in an emailed response on 18 March to a list of questions from Daily Maverick.

However, the updated document contained administrative errors, including an acceptance deadline that had already passed.

In addition, the stipulated payment date was 10 March, thus effectively giving players added to the revised squad four days to come up with R43,000.

On the day payments were due, a third version of the team was released, introducing two additional changes to the squad, with the reserve list seemingly gone.

The most notable change was in the coaching staff, with head coach Grant McKenzie replaced by assistant coach Khanyisa Mpumlwana.

In SSA’s response to Daily Maverick, the federation said “broad considerations” were made to identify a “technically harmonious team”. But the question is how SSA reconciles this need for harmony with a selection process so “rushed” that it resulted in a national team announcement containing a deadline that had expired 11 days before, and players selected on the day payment was required.

Lacklustre camp

In recent years, the national selection process has deviated from the structure outlined in SSA’s constitution.

According to the constitution, for players to be eligible for national selection, they must participate in the South African National Aquatic Championships, and for water polo, that would be the annual Currie Cup.

However, in 2024, the nationals were cancelled due to low participation and interest, and in 2025, SSA relied instead on a selection camp from 11-13 December.

Before the camp, players were told the selection camp would form a “key part of the selection process”, with final teams to be announced within three days. But the camp fell short of expectations.

The player quoted above attended the camp and said only 18 senior women were present, six being goalkeepers.

Other sources told Daily Maverick that attendance among the men was even lower, with fewer than 10 players on the opening day, with numbers declining as the camp progressed.

More concerning was the absence of a formal selection panel, said the player.

“Those present at the women’s camp included head coach Dean Whyte, assistant coach Masibonge Namba, director of coaches Steven la Marque and SSA board member Asmeralda Motau,” the player said.

SSA told Daily Maverick that the breakdown in the selection process resulted from a delay caused by the unavailability of the original selection committee.

“One member was hospitalised and has subsequently withdrawn from the SSA process,” said Adriaanse. “The remaining member failed to attend the prearranged selection meeting, resulting in approximately R15,000 of wasted flights and accommodation costs being incurred by SSA.”

He said additional selectors had to be co-opted, contributing to delays.

“This, coupled with a March 2026 World Aquatics deadline, resulted in the rushed administrative interaction,” said Adriaanse.

However, Rheinhardt van Schoor, listed on SSA’s website as a selector, disputes this explanation and said it was against SSA’s constitution to have no selectors.

According to SSA’s website, SSA is constitutionally required to have selection committees for water polo, with each committee made up of three members.

Listed on the website as one of the selectors is Van Schoor, who told Daily Maverick that he had never been invited to be a selector for the camp and had not been in contact with SSA for more than a year.

While SSA’s explanation may account for the absence of selectors at the camp, it does not explain the nearly two-month delay in announcing squads.

Underlying tensions

Underlying the administrative challenges is an ongoing power struggle between SSA and South African Water Polo (SAWP), the breakaway national water polo body formed in 2025.

While SSA remains the recognised federation under World Aquatics, and the only body able to select national teams and award colours, SAWP has positioned itself as an alternative structure aimed at improving governance and high-performance systems.

In contrast to the selection challenges surrounding the World Cup, SAWP intends to lead by example with its recent invitation to the EU Nations Water Polo Cup in October 2026.

According to a newsletter, the body will select initial squads in the SAWP Gauteng Invitational next month. From there, training quads of roughly 30 players will be identified and final teams will be selected at the Cape Town Invitational, with several training camps intended to follow.

“Participation in EU Nations represents another significant step in rebuilding a credible international pathway for South African athletes,” the letter said. “It aligns directly with SAWP’s key objective of restoring professional structures and meaningful opportunities for athletes to compete internationally.”

SAWP CEO Robbie Taylor told Daily Maverick the organisation was not seeking to replace SSA, but rather to work alongside it in “peaceful coexistence”.

“We don’t really want to have to do all of the stuff that’s required to become the federation,” he said. “We’ve proposed a very similar governance structure to what’s already been adopted [by] World Aquatics members [where] we would run the sport for them.”

He pointed to countries such as Australia and the United States, where similar models existed.

In its response to Daily Maverick, SSA said SAWP was an “unaffiliated voluntary organisation which is intend [sic] on ‘destroying’ SSA”.

The federation also claims to have received numerous complaints that athletes are being “victimised” and “pressured into boycotting SSA events”, which SSA says it is investigating.

SSA did not respond to requests for evidence of these claims by the time of publication.

Taylor rejected the accusations and said that SAWP strongly encouraged its members to reconsider supporting the structures in place within water polo under SSA.

“We’re not saying to people, you can’t go,” said Taylor. “What we’re saying to our members is, we’ve suffered enough under this incompetence and this ineptitude. If we continue to support it, it’ll continue as it stands. The only change is when people protest and stop supporting it and force them to change their ways.”

According to Taylor, it was through unity, promoting high performance and inclusivity that SAWP was trying to revive water polo.

For now, both organisations have expressed a willingness to engage in dialogue.

While no formal meetings have taken place between the two, according to Taylor, they are set to meet on 18 April to discuss the memorandum of understanding that SAWP has issued to SSA.

Whether that translates into meaningful cooperation remains uncertain.

What is clear, however, is that with the World Cup fast approaching, South Africa’s water polo teams will arrive in Malta underprepared, once again. DM

Editor’s note:

Following an initial response from SSA on 18 March 2026 to questions submitted on 12 March, Daily Maverick submitted a series of follow-up inquiries on 20 March. These sought specific evidence regarding the federation’s claims of a “destruction stratagem” by unaffiliated bodies, as well as proof of the “wasted flights” and the attendance registers for the alleged December selection camp, among other questions. As of the time of publication, SSA had not responded.