East London lawyer blames Boxing SA for delaying boss’s case
Prominent East London attorney Ntsikelelo Manyisane blames Boxing SA for the delay in reaching finality on the case of alleged sexual harassment against his client, BSA’s Gauteng manager, who is accused of this by a female professional boxer.
The manager was suspended with pay in June 2019.
“We were always ready to proceed, but they kept asking for postponements. The delay is their own making,” said Manyisane, who revealed that the matter has now been postponed indefinitely due to Covid-19 lockdown regulations.
Manyisane — an avid boxing follower who hardly misses action irrespective of where it takes place — said the matter would have been finalised by now if BSA had not asked for postponements on various occasions.
The lawyer said there were suggestions from the boxing regulatory body of virtual proceedings, which he was against, fearing for the safety of his client.
The Covid-19 lockdown regulations, which included the prohibition of flying and interprovincial visits, also added to the delay because Manyisane said one of his witnesses was based in the Free State.
“The money BSA pays my client is less important than his health,” he said.
When contacted for a comment, Boxing SA chair Peter Ngatane said: “It is supposed to have ended a long time ago, but I think the problem is with legal representatives from both sides.”
Former professional boxer Lehlohonolo Ramagole and veteran ring official Jaap van Niewenhuizen are holding the fort as Gauteng provincial managers.
Meanwhile, acting BSA CEO Cindy Nkomo confirmed that interviews for the provincial manager in the North West and KZN had been completed.
“Recommendations are to be taken to the board of Boxing SA to decide,” she said.
There has never been a provincial manager in North
West.
The post in KwaZulu-Natal became vacant after former referee and judge Francis Manning died in April.
Manning took over in 2019 after veteran administrator Les Andreasen retired.
Nkomo said the advertisement for the same position to replace Mickey Klaas in the Western Cape was on hold until Boxing SA finalised its issues with Klaas, who is understood to have challenged the process and the manner in which he was removed from the post.
Appointments for Boxing SA provincial managers in Port Elizabeth, the Free State and Mpumalanga have already been made.
Nceba Dladla is the man in Port Elizabeth. He filled the post that was left vacant when Mthunzi Maphithiza died in 2019.
Mzoliso Mabuya is in charge in the Free State and Oupa Lubisi is the manager in Mpumalanga.