Sascoc arbitrator clears Hendricks
Ravele conspiracy claim dismissed at arbitration
The three-month boardroom feud at the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) took a new twist yesterday when the organisation’s suspended president‚ Barry Hendricks‚ was cleared at arbitration.
Arbitrator Alec Freund‚ SC‚ dismissed the allegation by Ntambi Ravele‚ a Tennis SA (TSA) board member‚ that Hendricks and TSA president Gavin Crookes had conspired to block her nomination for the Sascoc elections.
He was unable to award any of the relief Ravele had asked for – to find that Hendricks and Crookes had acted unethically and unlawfully; that the handling of her nomination was irregular and that she be allowed a late entry; that Hendricks be disqualified from the election; and that he face disciplinary action at Sascoc.
The alleged conspiracy arose when‚ at a tennis function on February 1 and 2‚ Crookes asked Hendricks what he thought of the chances of TSA’s two potential candidates for the Sascoc election.
Hendricks replied that he didn’t think they had a great chance.
Crookes‚ when asking the TSA board if they would support Ravele’s nomination to stand for the Sascoc presidency‚ conveyed Hendricks’s sentiment. The TSA board rejected Ravele’s nomination‚ though they later supported Davids’s nomination to stand as an ordinary board member.
The arbitrator found Hendricks “to be an impressive and credible witness”.
“On my assessment of his evidence‚ in particular‚ I am unpersuaded that the conspiracy suspected by the claimant [Ravele] occurred,” Freund said.
The Sascoc election had been scheduled for March 28‚ but was delayed by Covid-19.