Netball turns to ‘fretball’ as admin crisis deepens
● South Africa’s netball competition has reached fever pitch — among the administrators, not the players.
Less than a year after successfully hosting the Netball World Cup, the sport is awash with infighting, legal spats and accusations of financial irregularity.
Two of the country’s main netball provinces, Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, are locked in arbitration with Netball South Africa (NSA), the national umbrella body, it emerged this week.
The disputes coincide with the relaunch of the premier annual competition — the Telkom Netball League — and an ongoing legal row over the dismissal of former SA women’s team coach Dorette Badenhorst.
NSA president Cecilia Molokwane appointed a new coach despite the dismissal case still pending.
Two weeks ago NSA dissolved Gauteng Netball and appointed an interim Gauteng netball structure and banned all netball matches except the Telkom Netball League (TNL).
“With immediate effect, until further notice ... all Gauteng Netball activities, except the TNL are ordered to be put on hold,” Molokwane wrote in a letter sent to Gauteng Netball stakeholders.
“It is further put on record that anyone attending or participating in these matches will be in direct violation of undermining authority.
“The disbanded exco is still to hand over to the interim structure, and as of now, there is no co-operation.”
Now a second province, KwaZulu-Natal, finds itself at odds with the parent structure after disputing a new NSA constitution approved in March last year.
“KZN Netball has declared a dispute against NSA after failing to agree with them regarding the process followed to amend the NSA constitution,” confirmed KZN Netball president Gugu Ngema.
“KZN Netball is waiting for that process to unfold. NSA is unfortunately forcing the implementation of the new constitution, and this is, unfortunately, creating serious challenges. We are unfortunately not at liberty to discuss the merits of this dispute as it is still sub judice.”
Both Gauteng and KZN have declared a dispute with the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee, prompting concerns that ructions within the sport could impact international competition — as it did recently with SA chess, which also has a leadership crisis.
A source involved with netball administration said KZN’s dispute stems from concerns that the amended NSA constitution seeks to entrench Molokwane’s position on the “throne” of NSA — her WhatsApp profile is titled “The Queen”.
“It [the new constitution] is practical — to give herself more powers and take away provincial structures’ powers,” the source said.
Molokwane has hit back against KZN Netball, insisting they are no longer in “good standing” and therefore cannot act on behalf of NSA.
“KZN Netball is not in good standing as a member and is causing NSA to be in disrepute and cannot represent NSA anywhere until arbitration is concluded,” Molokwane said in a letter sent to KZN Netball administrators three weeks ago.
A former netball player and coach, Molokwane has regularly courted controversy since her appointment as the sport’s top administrator in 2017.
Her supporters said she has helped democratise the once whites-only sporting code, while her detractors say her main concern is hogging the limelight.
Approached for comment this week, Molokwane said she was unable to comment while dispute resolution was pending:
“I have no comment [on] all issues. They both, KZN and Gauteng, took their matters outside of NSA instead of exhausting internal process.”