Ravele turns to Mthethwa in battle with TSA
Former Tennis SA (TSA) board member Ntambi Ravele is hoping for a positive response from sports minister Nathi Mthethwa after she refused to accept a letter of reprimand from the tennis governing body.
The veteran sports administrator, who controversially resigned as a board member of TSA last week, has written a third letter to the minister requesting a meeting.
Ravele resigned from TSA after she refused to be reprimanded by the TSA independent subcommittee and elected to be taken through the disciplinary process.
But she dropped a bombshell on TSA before the disciplinary hearing process started.
Ravele took SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc) president Barry Hendricks and TSA president Gavin Crookes to arbitration for allegedly blocking her Sascoc presidential nomination in February. Both officials were suspended.
Hendricks was cleared of the conspiracy claims and subsequently reinstated.
TSA also cleared Crookes and reinstated him.
Ravele wrote two letters to the minister to intervene.
“I refused to accept a separate letter of reprimand because I didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t have anything to hide,” Ravele said.
She felt some men were afraid of women leaders and acted to deliberately eliminate them from the sport.
“They are telling young women that there is no space for female administrators in sport,” Ravele who has been involved in sports administration for 32 years, said.
She was optimistic about her third meeting with the minister.
“I have some issues that I still need to discuss with the minister. Our sport has turned into a boys’ club but we still need to fight for the future of young women in sport.
“I’m still waiting to hear from the minister. I wrote a strong letter to him requesting a meeting,” Ravele said.
The former CEO of boxing, netball president and GM of the Premier Soccer League was on the board of TSA as a representative of Wheelchair Tennis SA.
“I may have moved out of TSA, but I’m not lost to sport. I still have a big fight on my hands.
“I want to advocate for the future of women in sport,” she said.