SA Youth Olympics chief disciplined
Sascoc disciplines top official, but rejects sex-related claims
● Team SA’s highest-ranking manager at the 2018 Youth Olympics has been disciplined for misconduct during the Games, but has escaped facing claims of sexually inappropriate comments and drunken behaviour.
Chief medical officer Dr Karen Schwabe submitted an incident report after the under-18 showpiece in Buenos Aires, Argentina, accusing chef de mission Clifford Cobers of inappropriate comments about sex and race, being drunk and drinking in alcohol-free Olympic zones, as well as discrimination against medical staff, especially against her and a senior physiotherapist.
She wrote the eight-page report after the October event and submitted it to the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc).
Schwabe claimed Cobers said the physiotherapist room looked “like a bordello”. “He repeatedly asked if he can come get a ‘happy ending’ — ongoing as if that was a joke. This was not appreciated at all.”
Other allegations against Cobers, Sascoc employee, included that he:
● Was “either drunk or hungover most of the time [and] this resulted in his extreme erratic behaviour and strange messages”;
● Instructed members of his athletics staff to take alcohol to him in their backpacks at
athe opening ceremony;
● Smelled of alcohol while offering Schwabe a taste of the “champagne” he and some others were drinking in the middle of the day in the athletes’ village, which had a no-alcohol policy;
● Was “often not walking straight when under the influence”;
● Discriminated against female medical personnel and threatened them with comments like “I’m going to get you”, told two of them they were useless and called a third pathetic;
● Told Schwabe to sit on the floor to write medical notes after she had requested a desk and chair, emphasising his point as he told her, “that’s right, you sit on the floor”;
● After instructing her to move the medical room to another floor, refused to allow two male volunteers to help carry cupboards to the new location on another floor;
● Discriminated against black and white members of the team, complaining that a white physiotherapist had been assigned to cover the female triathlon, which was won by a white South African, and frequently labelled some black members of the management and medical team “lazy”;
● Publicly humiliated Schwabe and a physiotherapist on a WhatsApp group, accusing them on one day of being absent and publicly calling a meeting to which he himself didn’t arrive.
Cobers was called into a meeting with Sascoc’s acting CEO, Patience Shikwambana, and acting CFO Ravi Govender to discuss the report.
Sascoc vice-president Barry Hendricks said Cobers had denied most of the charges against him, but admitted to three that resulted in the disciplinary action against him.
In a communiqué to the board, Shikwambana and Govender wrote that there was “a degree of misconduct” by Cobers on three charges.
Two involved the use of Sascoc resources without approval and the third was “his tone in the manner he communicated as shown in the evidence in the text messages received”.
They said because Schwabe had told them she did not intend taking the matter further, “this matter can’t be pursued further. We are however of the view that based on the above three points raised together with him being the head of delegation on behalf of both Sascoc and the country, we recommend that he is given a written warning.”
A source close to Schwabe alleged she had been pressured into dropping the matter.
Hendricks denied this. “We requested her to forward a formal complaint so that we can take action,” he said.
Asked for comment, Schwabe said: “In my opinion I followed the correct procedure and I further believe it’s at the discretion of the relevant authority as to whether they want to proceed with the matter.”
Cobers declined to comment.
Sascoc is facing several challenges. Sports minister Tokozile Xasa met with the body this week to hammer out changes to it after a scathing report found financial mismanagement and that its president, Gideon Sam, was running the organisation as a dictator.
Earlier this month, Sascoc’s former media partner, Highbury Media, served court papers demanding the committee be placed under liquidation. Sascoc, applying austerity measures, said it refused to pay after cancelling what it had termed a one-sided contract prematurely.
I followed the correct procedure … it’s at the discretion of the authority … to proceed
Dr Karen Schwabe
SA Youth Olympics team chief medical officer