Why Ashworth was Fired Part I: Kleptomania at Comrades House

This is a part of a series of articles on how Comrades was captured and why Ann Ashworth was fired. Despite support from the Chair, Vice Chair and Tier 1 sponsors, Ashworth’s contract extension was rejected at a Board meeting in June and her contract was ‘terminated with immediate effect.’ Ashworth believes that there were three main reasons leading to the Board firing her, this is the first.

After noticing that Board member Isaac Ngwenya would leave functions and events carrying armloads of beverages (sometimes even making return trips to his car) and that the Comrades House bar fridges were having to be restocked far more frequently than “reasonable usage” would dictate, Ann Ashworth (Comrades Race and Operations Manager), requested permission to put locks on the fridges.

With permission granted, Ashworth immediately installed the locks over the December break when she noticed that a further four pallets of Coca-Cola had mysteriously disappeared. When the locks were spotted in the new year, one Board member was heard to remark that Ashworth had “made a fatal mistake”. Several members of the Board complained about Ashworth’s conduct (the cost of the disappearing beverages was unfortunately not a concern to these Board members).

The locks lasted until the Strategic Weekend (attended by all Board members and their partners, Ashworth and Delaine Cools, Comrades Marketing and Communications Manager) which was held on the last weekend in January. At some point over the weekend, the locks were deliberately tampered with and broken which would almost definitely have to have been at the hands of someone attending the weekend getaway. The moral of the story is that you shouldn’t get between a mother and her cubs or a thirsty Board member and his “free” drinks.

As the looting continued unabated, Ashworth instructed Alain Dalais (then the Procurement and Estate Manager, now acting ROM) to install cameras in the bar and kitchen area. This stopped the looting but caused more angst among certain members of the Board. One Board member confronted Dalais about the newly installed cameras asking, “Are you trying to catch us out?”.  

Ngwenya has also been observed by CMA staff redistributing the Comrades crockery. According to one report, Ngwenya once arrived at Comrades House, went to the kitchen and walked off with 10 plates for use at a private function at his house (and these do not seem to have ever found their way back into the Comrades kitchen). This behaviour is so-well known that a fellow member of the Board referred to him as a kleptomaniac* on multiple occasions. He is also universally referred to by the nickname “Mr. Tin Foil” due to his habit and method of taking large quantities of food home after functions. Another source referred to him as ‘The Crocodile’ – a play on words as Ngwenya is the Nguni word for crocodile and due to his habit of snapping up everything that isn’t nailed down.

* This comment is meant as a serious explanation for the behaviour rather than as a joke.

One source complained, “It’s a known fact that every time Ngwenya goes to Comrades house he will leave with drinks from the fridge and food. He will always take foil to wrap food or even take plates of food home. He is not shy, taking six packs of cool drinks to his car and then will still eat and drink before he goes home.” Another said, “Isaac never leaves the property without at the very least helping himself to several drinks from the fridge. He is also renowned for helping himself to extra T-shirts, promotional gifts, etc.”. There was no shortage of sources willing to comment on Ngwenya’s gluttony, “He is renowned for arriving late for an ROC meeting where his portfolio does not feature, joins in with the supper then does mopping up operations on the leftovers to take a ‘goodie bag’ home.”

Ngwenya, who has an impressive 21 Comrades medals to his name, did reply to my questions. He denied any theft but was unapologetic about his appetite, “For your information drinks at Comrades are sponsored product nobody steals drinks. People drink as much as they want and I have never stolen drinks as there is no reason for anyone to do so.”

After publishing this article exposing repeated racist incidents by the compromised Board member Zinhle Sokhela, which also highlighted racially suspect statements from Ngwenya, I received several notifications that Ngwenya had been removed from the Comrades Board about a decade ago after a he made a racist speech at the Spirit of Comrades awards dinner. Ngwenya denies this and told me, “However, if you want to know why I was not coopted to the Board at that time ask the CMA Chairperson at that time and will give you the answers you are looking for.” I am told that the Chairperson is Dave Dixon but unfortunately Dixon has not responded to my questions.

Ngwenya also denied reports that he had been fired from Transnet after a disciplinary hearing, “Yes I did have a case with Transnet which went to CCMA and I won it. You can read the judgement to learn more what it means to have morals and dignity.” If there was a CCMA judgement, my ‘legal team’ were unable to find it and my request to Ngwenya to provide me with a copy of the judgement remains unanswered.

The misuse of Comrades resources seems to have become institutionalised. The organisation has two sponsored Toyota Fortuners – one of which is designated for use by the Race and Operations Manager (ROM) and the other was used as a pool car for Comrades business. After Rowyn James resigned, Delaine Cools was appointed acting ROM and was allocated James vehicle. However, there are strict guidelines around acceptable personal use as well as protocols for making the vehicle available when needed for official Comrades business.

However, Cools has refused to share the vehicle. This causes a lot of consternation from the Race Organising Committee (ROC) when they need to use the sponsored vehicle for official Comrades business like route marking on weekends. The result is that volunteers have to use their own personal vehicles (which are often not equipped for the nature of the work required) for race business and incur additional costs for Comrades.

Whilst Ashworth (who was allocated the second Fortuner when she joined) always made her vehicle available when needed, multiple sources expressed their frustration that Cools refused to share the vehicle. One source also mentioned that Cools’ husband had been seen on more than one occasion driving the vehicle around town.

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