Whose money is sports minister giving willy-nilly?
JOHN Somerville makes a legitimate complaint against the Minister of Sport, Fikile Mbalula (Comrades bonuses could be better spent, IOS, letters June 4) as he carries on embarking on his willy-nilly trajectory of awarding bonuses, in this case, R100 000 extra for the male and female Comrades winners.
This is just one more comedy mishap to add to his record of idiotic faux pas. Not long ago, at the SA Football Association awards, he announced an additional R300 000 incentive bonus for the player who scored 25 goals, an attainable feat. He expects the general public to just swallow his proclamations as a spoonful of vanilla ice cream.
Such affirmations should be strongly condemned.
Both our national soccer teams’ performances on the international stage are nothing short of pathetic.
For all his vaunted actions, South Africa continues to court defeat and failure.
Mbalula is a champion brown-noser and never misses an opportunity to be seen exchanging hugs with the well-connected and top brass, so I was surprised that he didn’t feature at Muhammad Ali’s much publicised memorial service. Ali never fought in South Africa because of apartheid.
Remember, this was the same minister who flew first class to the Floyd Mayweather boxing match. At whose cost, I ask?
What has his department done for South African boxing? We had a rich history of boxers like Gerrie Coetzee, Dingaan Thobela, Baby Jakes Madlala, Brian Mitchell and Peter Mathubela, who wore the world champion’s belt. Who can forget Brian Baronet, Charlie Weir, Kallie Knoetze, Jimmy Abbot? Even Cedric Kushner and Sol Kerzner seemed to have disappeared into thin air after raking in millions of rand in the independent black homelands in the 1970s and 1980s by promoting their fights.
I wonder where Mbalula was during that golden era.
We need to distance ourselves from insignificant victories and get on with the programme. And, minister, please don’t think you will get champion fighters by offering them R100 000 for a knockout win.